German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubich said she was considering making verbal sexual abuse a punishable crime, DPA reported, citing the Rheinpfalz newspaper, BTA reported.
Hubich explained that the ruling coalition is calling for an investigation into whether legal protection against sexual harassment should be expanded and stressed that women and girls are often the target of such acts.
When asked where the line between an awkward compliment and a punishable act can be drawn, Hubich said that "verbal violations are generally very clear in the given situation, also for the perpetrators." She acknowledged that there could be grey areas that the justice system could deal with without exceeding its powers.
Germany would not be the first country to criminalize verbal sexual harassment. From July 2024, sexual harassment in public, known as catcalling, will be illegal in the Netherlands.
Hubich criticized the term as derogatory. "Sexual harassment should be called that because it involves a deliberate violation of boundaries, and the term itself has sexist connotations," she added.