Some sexual offences regulated in the current Penal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

Sexual coercion and rape were criminal offences defined under Article 177 of the 1977 German Penal Code. According to the Federal Court, to prosecute an individual for committing rape under this article, it must be proven that the victim had either physically resisted the unwanted sexual act or seized any opportunity, however small, to seek help from other people, such as strangers in a parking lot at night or even children. This interpretation and application guidance of Article 177 resulted in many rape acts went unpunished by criminal measures. In response to this situation, in 2016, the German Penal Code was amended, revising and supplementing Article 177 of the 1997 Penal Code to cover offences of sexual assault, sexual coercion, rape, and, for the first time, defining sexual harassment as a criminal offence. This paper analyses and evaluates the Federal Court's perspectives on applying Article 177 of the 1997 Penal Code, as well as examines the new and progressive aspects of the amended and supplemented Article 177 in the 2016 German Penal Code.