New Year's Eve party in Berlin to have 'safe zone' for women

[ansible]

Source: BBC

Organisers of Berlin's New Year's Eve celebrations are to set up a "safe zone" for women for the first time. The new security measures planned for the Brandenburg Gate party come amid concerns about sexual assaults. A large number of assaults and robberies targeting women at Cologne's New Year's Eve celebrations two years ago horrified Germany.

Hundreds of women reported being attacked by gangs of men with migrant backgrounds. The events in Cologne heightened tensions in the country over the large influx of refugees and migrants - 1.1m people arrived in Germany in 2015, some, but by no means all, fleeing violence in Syria and Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the New Year's Eve party in Berlin on Sunday and security will be strict. Large bags, such as rucksacks, and alcoholic drinks will be banned at the Brandenburg Gate. Women who have been assaulted or feel harassed will be able to get support at a special "safety zone", staffed by the German Red Cross, on Ebertstrasse.



Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42502984

[whathehell]

1. Why not "safe zones" for men so women can be safe FROM them?

I know it's well-intentioned, but restricting the freedom of women because too many men refuse to obey the law doesn't seem like the answer, somehow.

[LanternWaste]

2. It's voluntary rather than restrictive.

It's voluntary rather than restrictive; ergo, no net loss or gain of freedom...

[whathehell]

4. The point is a sound one..

nonetheless.

[msongs]

3. but its ok to restrict freedom of men who obey the law? nt

[whathehell]

5. No, the idea is to enforce the law and eliminate the patriarchy..

Get it now?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Yes, I get it. Round up every man who looks a "certain" way, ...

... or perhaps practices a "certain" religion, and put them somewhere so the rest of us are safe.

Perhaps a camp-like area where they can be concentrated.

Happy New Year!

[whathehell]

21. Lol..No, dear, you don't "get it" at all

.but I can see how silly knee jerk references to "concentration" camps work for some people.

Happy New Year.

[Squinch]

26. At least as OK as it is to restrict the freedom of women who just don't want to be assaulted.

[enough]

6. This seems strange. Does it mean that violence is to be expected outside this zone?

Is the expectation of violence outside the zone now acceptable? Or just inevitable?

[christx30]

9. The police seemed to be overwhelmed

last time this came up. Completely unable to control the actions of the crowd.
If you can't fight the hurricane, you create shelters. You give everyone information beforehand, focus police attention to that area, and hope for the best.

[whathehell]

22. That was my point exactly..

Unfortunately, it seems to have flown over the heads of some.

[PragmaticDem]

7. It is a shame it is needed.

[Irish_Dem]

8. I wish the whole planet could be safe for women.

At what point do humans on Earth act like a civilized society?

[Shemp Howard]

12. Monotheism? Really?

These attacks break my heart. A woman should be able to go anywhere without having to worry about being attacked. But evidently that's not the case in Germany.

And you are blaming monotheism for this? Really? Are you aware that Jews and Christians have not been suspected for these attacks on German women?

[Shemp Howard]

14. I get what you're trying to say.

These attacks on German women are mainly from recent immigrants. And those immigrants are mostly Muslims. It's an unpleasant truth. But to say that, and nothing more, is quite unfair. As an analogy, most Mafia members are Italian. But it is quite unfair to then conclude that most Italians are involved in organized crime.

Women need to be protected against assault, period. And innocents - Muslims and otherwise - need to be protected against slander, period. One can only hope that Germany - and the rest of the world - can reconcile these two truths.

[Shemp Howard]

16. You are casting too wide a net.

"Which do have something to do with religion."

Not just religion, but a particular religion, Islam. Consider orthodox Judaism. Ten men are needed to constitute a prayer group. A hundred women could be present. But they don't count. In orthodox Judaism, women are not equal to men.

But orthodox Jewish men don't go around assaulting women. They may be guilty of other sins, but they just don't go around assaulting women.

We need to acknowledge this fact: Some Muslims misinterpret their religion to believe that it is acceptable to assault women. Just as some Jews - and some Christians - misinterpret their religion to do bad things.

When it comes to assaults on women, we can behave like an ostrich with his head in the sand. We could pretend that the facts don't matter. But then nothing would change.

[whathehell]

24. "Cultural attitudes.which have 'something' to do with religion"

Yeah "something"...along with so many other "things". Good luck rounding up all of them..

[whathehell]

23. Yeah.. Let's have Polytheismm..That will work so much better

I can't decide whether to laugh or cry.

[TexasBushwhacker]

27. Yeah. Hinduism is polytheistic

and there are plenty of rapes there.

[whathehell]

28. Yes there are.

The whole concept is absurd.

[whathehell]

30. Uh huh, but how is falsely characterizing monotheism as "worse for

women" being 'respectful'?

[Irish_Dem]

17. Being a moral person with character and integrity has nothing to do with religion. nt

[romanic]

19. Like I said when the incident in Cologne happened.

None of this would've happened if the floodgates were opened and that's the (as someone said - unpleasant) truth.

[Rustyeye77]

20. Yep

Not a real slick move .

[whathehell]

25. I'm not sure I'm understanding you..

Are you sure you didn't mean "if the floodgates we're not opened"?

[christx30]

31. Well, this isn't happening in Hungary or Poland,

two countries that closed their borders to migrants.

[whathehell]

32. I get the point..

I don't much like the idea of closed borders, but I also don't like the idea of rampaging men who feel entitled to rape/molest women because they're wearing short skirts or something

Cultural differences are real and I think that fact deserves consideration.

[christx30]

33. There are no easy answers.

But I think a nation should default to protecting their own people.

[whathehell]

34. Exactly..

A nation's first responsibility is to it's own people.