Sexual coercion

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This article or paragraph describes the situation in Germany , Austria and Switzerland . Help me to describe the situation in other countries.

Sexual coercion is a collective criminal term for sexual acts that are carried out against the will of the victim .

German legal situation

In German criminal law, sexual coercion is a criminal offense that is directed against the legal interest of sexual self-determination . It has been regulated in Section 177 of the Criminal Code since the 33rd Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 and, together with rape (Section 177 (6) No. 1), which is a standard example of a particularly serious case, forms a unitary offense . The sexual assault is due to the minimum penalty of one year imprisonment a crime .

Because sexual assault is imposed on anyone who compels regardless of its sex, another person with force or threat of imminent danger to life or limb to make sexual acts of the perpetrator or to tolerate a third party per se or sexual acts, or a situation in who the victim is exposed to the action of the perpetrator, exploited for sexual acts. The violence can be overwhelming ( vis absoluta = e.g. tying up, locking in, knocking down, stunning) or bending the will ( vis compulsiva ). The intensity of the violence is irrelevant; it must be directed against people. If the perpetrator does not act with violence, but instead uses a threat, a threat to life and limb must be threatened.

In the case of other threats with a sensitive evil, a punishment for sexual assault in accordance with Section 177 (2) No. 5 StGB or rape can take place instead of under Section 177 (5) StGB.

The legislator defines the term sexual act in Section 184h StGB: Sexual acts are those that are of some relevance for the protected legal interest. Where the lower threshold is is disputed. However, this is often allowed to be denied when kissing with tongue, and "napping" is often ruled out. The criminal liability for sexual harassment according to § 184i StGB or because of insult according to § 185 StGB may then remain . The upper threshold for sexual coercion to rape is penetration of the body. It is irrelevant whether the penetration occurs with an object or a part of the body. The intercourse or penetration against the will of the victim is always rape.

The attempt criminality begins with the attachment of the act of violence. Withdrawal from attempted sexual coercion according to § 24 StGB is possible, but does not cancel the completed coercion.

The victim's gender is irrelevant, and neither is age. Even if the victim is not able to form his or her own will through sexual self-determination , this is to be punished as sexual coercion ( Section 177 (2) No. 1 StGB); Before November 10, 2016, the offense of sexual abuse of persons incapable of resistance was relevant according to Section 179 of the Criminal Code.

Austrian legal situation

In Austria, sexual coercion is regulated in Section 202 of the Criminal Code (StGB) under the designation Sexual Coercion in addition to the criminal offense of rape in Section 201 StGB. It is only used if the perpetrator is not to be punished after the rape was committed. The offense includes coercion with violence or dangerous threats to undertake or tolerate a sexual act. Section 202 of the Criminal Code goes much further than the offense of rape, as the wording of the sexual act means that considerably more acts are recorded. The range of punishment amounts to up to five years imprisonment and contains the same qualifications as the criminal offense of § 201 StGB.

Swiss legal situation

In Switzerland, sexual coercion is regulated in Art. 189 StGB and the basic offense is as follows:

"Anyone who compels a person to tolerate a sexual act similar to co-sleeping or another sexual act, namely by threatening them, using violence, putting them under psychological pressure or making them unable to resist, is punished with imprisonment of up to ten years or a fine."

The minimum sentence for using a weapon is three years in prison. Since April 1, 2004, sexual coercion has also been officially prosecuted in marriage and in a marriage-like partnership.

For sexual acts with persons incapable of resisting and / or developing sexual will, there is an offense of desecration in Switzerland .

literature

  • Tatjana Hörnle : The law to improve the protection of sexual self-determination. In: NStZ 2017, pp. 13–21
  • Heike Jung: The unity of sexual coercion and rape . Section 177 of the Criminal Code, Baden-Baden 2001
  • Joachim Renzikowski : No! - The new sexual criminal law. In: NJW 2016, 3553–3558
  • Udo Steinhilper: Definition and decision-making processes in sexually motivated violent crimes. An empirical study of rape and sexual assault. Universitätsverlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1986, ISBN 387-940-282-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ repealed with effect from November 10, 2016, Art. 1 No. 8 of the Fiftieth Act amending the Criminal Code - Improving the Protection of Sexual Self-Determination

Web links