In her book “Arraboy” Güner Balci Describes Violence Among Refugees from the Middle East in Berlin

Women are often the victims of social problems in Berlin’s Neukölln district

Over seven years ago, on the first of January 2002, a domestic violence law came into force in Germany. It served to clarify the legal rights of women subject to domestic violence; namely that they could seek the protection of the police and the courts. The law has helped many women to date, but there are still pockets of migrant communities in which women have not been able to benefit from the law at all.  In her book, ‘Arraboy’, social worker and journalist Güner Balci, highlights the tremendous problems with violence prevalent in the Berlin district of Neukölln. For the past twenty years, this area has been home to many refugees from the Middle East. Her reproaches are massive: organised crime, handling of stolen goods, drug dealing and assault. Again and again it is children and young people that go on police records. Forty percent of the Neukölln repeat -offenders come from a Middle Eastern background, despite the fact that there are only three percent of people with Arabic roots living in Germany. The victims of these living conditions are often women. Germany has remained silent on the matter for a long time.

(Report: Henriette Wrege/ Sarah Stolarz)