The New German Law on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment

Abstract

In 2016, the German parliament changed the law on sexual assault and rape (Sect. 177 StGB). The new law assumes a "no-means-no"-model, while the old law required coercion as a necessary feature of rape and other forms of sexual assaults. In addition, two new offense descriptions were introduced: sexual harassment (Sect. 184i StGB) and offenses out of groups (Sect. 184j StGB). In this Article, I describe the deficiencies of the old law, the process of law reform, and the newly enacted prohibitions.