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Two 13-year-olds beat up a 14-year-old girl in Germany without any restraint.
Carla DeVizziEditor News
The beating attack by two teenage girls (13) is currently shocking Germany. A video circulating online shows the two mercilessly beating their 14-year-old victim. Even when the teenager is on the ground, they kick her several times. She was so badly injured in the attack that she is in the hospital.
Although Dirk Baier (46), violence researcher and criminologist at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, is confronted with youth violence every day, the video leaves him stunned and at a loss. “One would expect young men to attack each other like that – but these are young girls,” says Baier. As a criminologist, he naturally also wonders whether young women no longer shy away from such acts of violence.
Increase in convictions of female juvenile delinquents
When it comes to violence, there is still a big discrepancy between the sexes: “Statistically, four of five violent youth offenders are male,” says the expert. And the more serious the offense, the more likely it is that the perpetrators are male.
Nevertheless, an increase can also be observed in the convictions of female juvenile delinquents. A look at the figures from the Federal Statistical Office shows: While in 2020 3,657 of the minors who were convicted were girls, the number in 2021 was already 4,196. However, the increase in violent crimes was lower. “In 2020, 216 girls were convicted of a violent crime, in 2021 there were 240,” explains Baier.
In the majority of cases, however, there is no trial at all. “Studies show that four out of five violent crimes are not reported,” says Baier. On the one hand, the victims are often afraid of further attacks and lack the courage to call the police.
For girls, the group phenomenon also plays a central role. «It often takes a clique and a leader to drop the last inhibitions. You can see that in the current video. There were two of them.” With boys, on the other hand, there are often 1:1 arguments.
“Even in this country, such an attack is not excluded.”
In general, it can be said that there has been a massive increase in youth violence in the last five years. “We now have between a third and a half more perpetrators than in 2015,” says Baier. One notices a shift in age. In the last five years, juvenile delinquency among the 10 to 14 year olds has increased by over 30 percent.
This applies to both girls and boys in general. “Girls can act just as brutally when they are exposed to social circumstances that make them violent,” explains Baier. And: Switzerland is no exception: “In this country, too, such a brutal attack as in Rastatt cannot be ruled out.”
Despite this, Switzerland is “well positioned” in contrast to other countries. “The level of youth violence and thus violence among girls is lower in this country than elsewhere.” In addition, Baier emphasizes that such scenes as in the video are exceptional and are not exemplary for all young people.