German cabinet proposes tougher rules for child sexual abuse

The German cabinet has approved draft legislation that proposes to impose harsher prison sentences for child sexual abuse and the distribution of child sexual material. This bill comes after the country had witnessed an increase in child sexual abuse over the last two years. The legislation proposes to increase the length of prison sentences for those convicted of child sexual abuse from six months to ten years to one year to fifteen years.

The legislation has also renamed the crimes, replacing ‘kindesmissbrauch’, which translates to ’child misuse’ in German, with the German equivalent of ’sexual violence against children’. This legislation will only come into effect if approved by the German legislature.