Report it to the police
How reporting a crime works and how to prepare for it.
You will not be turned away
For some people, this step is hard. A police report is not only about the crime, but sometimes also about your own sexuality or identity. As part of the “STOP the HATE” campaign, we at velspol help you prepare.
The police record every matter that may be a criminal offence. If you feel uncomfortable with other people in the room, you can ask for a private room.
What can I report?
Here are relevant offences, described in simple terms. Any of them can become a prejudice-motivated or politically motivated crime if it is clearly driven by group-focused hostility, for example against LGBTIQ* people.
Trigger warning: the explanations describe violence, including sexual violence.
Insult (Beleidigung, Section 185 StGB)
Insults are disrespectful or contemptuous statements about you in words, images, writing or gestures. You are degraded as a person or portrayed as inferior, which is an attack on your personal honour.
Defamation and slander (Üble Nachrede, Verleumdung, Sections 186, 187 StGB)
Defamation (üble Nachrede) means claiming or spreading facts to third parties that cannot be proven true and are likely to make you look contemptible or degrade you. Slander (Verleumdung) goes further: false facts about you are claimed or spread knowingly. As with insults, your personal honour is attacked.
Threat (Bedrohung, Section 241 StGB)
A threat is an offence of endangerment. You or someone close to you is threatened with a crime against sexual self-determination, physical integrity, personal freedom or property of significant value. This can happen in person, by letter, by phone, online or on social media.
Extortion (Erpressung, Section 253 StGB)
Extortion means someone uses force or threatens you with serious harm to make you do, tolerate or refrain from something, causing financial loss to you or someone else, in order to unlawfully enrich themselves or a third person. Attempting it is also a crime.
Bodily harm (Körperverletzung, Section 223 StGB)
Bodily harm means you are physically abused or your health is damaged. Attempting it is also a crime.
Sexual offences (Sections 174 ff. StGB)
These include sexual assault, sexual coercion and rape. Sexual acts are performed on you against your will, or you are made to perform sexual acts. A particular form of abuse is stealthing: a sexual partner removes or damages the condom before intercourse without your consent.
Criminal damage (Sachbeschädigung, Section 303 StGB)
Criminal damage means that something of yours is damaged, destroyed, or its appearance is changed significantly and not just temporarily. Attempting it is also a crime.
Stalking (Nachstellung, Section 238 StGB)
Stalking means that someone pursues you without authorisation in a way that can seriously affect how you live your life. For example, you are repeatedly followed, called, harassed or threatened.
Domestic violence
Violence also happens in relationships. Domestic violence means physical and psychological violence between spouses or unmarried partners, also after a separation if there is still a direct link to the former relationship. It mainly includes coercion, threats and bodily harm.
The Violence Protection Act (Gewaltschutzgesetz) protects victims, among other things, by allowing them to use the shared home without sharing it with the violent person. Reporting a (former) partner can be very hard. A counselling service can help. How to secure evidence of domestic violence
How to secure evidence after an incident.
How reporting works
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Prepare
Answer the six key questions below beforehand. You can use written notes of what you remember when you report.
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Report
To the police, a public prosecutor’s office or a local court. Going directly to the police is the quickest way.
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Get the case number
Ask for the case number so you can follow up. Say so yourself if the crime may have been motivated by hostility towards LGBTIQ* people.
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Investigation
The police pass their findings to the public prosecutor’s office. It decides on further investigation, charges or dropping the case. If the case is dropped, you will be informed in writing.
Anonymous reports possible
In principle, you can also report anonymously, because the police must follow up on matters reported anonymously. However, crimes reported anonymously are solved much less often. Witnesses must give their personal details to the police officer taking the report. Protective measures are possible later, for example for your home address.
As soon as possible
That gives the best chance of securing evidence and solving the crime. But you can still report days, weeks or months later. For some offences, such as insults, you also need a written request for prosecution (Strafantrag). The deadline is three months after you learn who the suspect is. The police will usually tell you about this.
Cannot be withdrawn
In principle, a criminal complaint cannot be withdrawn. As soon as the police learn of a crime, they must investigate.
Bring support
You can bring a person you trust, or ask a counselling service or a lawyer beforehand. Every police station has contact persons for state security (Staatsschutz). Ask for your statement to be recorded word for word; otherwise you can ask for it to be corrected.
Contact persons in your federal state
In many federal states, the police have specially trained LGBTIQ* liaison officers. They give confidential advice and can accompany you when you report, if you wish. Choose your federal state.
- Police website
- VelsPol network
- Information sheet
Tap a federal state to see the right contact point here.
All contact points as a list
- Baden-Württemberg (opens in a new tab)
- Bavaria (opens in a new tab)
- Berlin (opens in a new tab)
- Brandenburg (opens in a new tab)
- Bremen (opens in a new tab)
- Hamburg (opens in a new tab)
- Hesse (opens in a new tab)
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (opens in a new tab)
- Lower Saxony (opens in a new tab)
- North Rhine-Westphalia (opens in a new tab)
- Rhineland-Palatinate (opens in a new tab)
- Saarland (opens in a new tab)
- Saxony (opens in a new tab)
- Saxony-Anhalt (opens in a new tab)
- Schleswig-Holstein (opens in a new tab)
- Thuringia (opens in a new tab)
We link to external websites. Please check the current contact details there. In an acute emergency, call 110.
Be prepared: the six key questions
When you report, the police will ask what happened. These questions help you prepare.
Say which crime it might be. Describe any harm, injuries or damage to property.
Give the time or period of the incident as precisely as possible.
Describe the place. If you do not know the address, describe it as precisely as possible.
Were other people affected? Who saw it? If possible, give the names and contact details of witnesses.
Describe what led to the incident. Was hostility towards LGBTIQ* people behind it? If you know the person, give their details. Otherwise, prepare as precise a description of them as you can.
Describe what happened in chronological order. Say whether weapons or objects were used, and repeat what the people involved said, especially anything discriminatory.
Video on reporting
A post by STOP the HATE (@stopthehatesh) on Instagram.
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Video by STOP the HATE
Not ready yet?
People react differently. Some take action straight away, others withdraw and first need to sort out and process what happened. Sometimes you only realise later what happened. You can still take action then.
Especially with domestic and sexual violence, the barrier to reporting is high. Community counselling services help you make sense of crimes, find a good way of dealing with them and work out your next steps.
Ready for the next step?
You can report online or get counselling first.