German justice minister proposes crime for verbal sexual harassment and 20-year limitation periods

The draft and its timing

Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) presented a draft bill on Monday, 2 November 2026, that would amend the criminal code on sexual offences. According to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), the text was to go out that day to the federal states and to associations, which have until the end of November to submit comments. Hubig said sexual harassment and sexualised violence are a massive problem and part of everyday life for too many women. The package covers three areas: a new offence for verbal and gestural harassment, longer limitation periods for rape and joint sexual assaults, and higher minimum sentences for group crimes. The coalition partner CDU has responded with scepticism, and the sharpest objection so far comes from Saxony's justice minister, Constanze Geiert.

A new offence for verbal and gestural harassment

Under the draft, a person who harasses another through a sexually determined remark or gesture would commit an offence if that remark or gesture is suitable to intimidate or pressure the other person. The penalty would be up to one year in prison or a fine. Until now, physical contact is required before conduct counts as sexual harassment, and the ministry argues the new offence creates clarity where existing charges such as insult or coercion apply only in some cases. The draft also requires the conduct to be 'erheblich' (significant), so that not every crude comment becomes a crime. Hubig has stressed that clumsy compliments are not meant to be prosecuted. The ministry deliberately avoided the term 'catcalling', which it considers contested and downplaying.

“Sexual assaults are unacceptable. That applies to physical violence just as much as to verbal harassment and threats.”

Longer limitation periods

Under current law, the limitation period for rape and joint sexual offences depends on the case and can be as short as five years. The draft would set one uniform limitation period of 20 years for both offences. The ministry links the change to cases in which victims were drugged and the crime only came to light much later, for example after video material appeared. The draft also refers to a German case in which a man is accused of sexual acts on his wife, who could not express her will, in 67 cases in total. The Gisèle Pelicot case in Avignon, where a court sentenced her former husband to 20 years in December 2024, has strongly shaped the European debate on sexualised violence.

“It must not be that such serious crimes go unpunished just because the victim only learns years later what was done to her.”

She said the aim is to ensure that rapes can still be prosecuted many years after the offence.

Tougher minimum sentences for group crimes

The draft sets the minimum prison term for group rape and joint sexual assaults at five years. Where several participants jointly commit a sexual assault or sexual coercion, the minimum would rise to three years, up from two years under current law. Rape that results in a pregnancy would also carry a five-year minimum. The comparison below shows the current and proposed minimums stated in the draft coverage.

Group sexual assault or coercion, current law2

Group sexual assault or coercion, draft3

Group rape, draft5

Rape causing pregnancy, draft5

Group sexual assault or coercion, current law

2 years

Group sexual assault or coercion, draft

3 years

Group rape, draft

5 years

Rape causing pregnancy, draft

5 years

Data from the article text

The comment period for states and associations runs until the end of November, so the figures may still change before any further step.

Criticism and next steps

Saxony's Christian Democratic justice minister, Constanze Geiert, rejected a tougher penalty for harassment. She told the Welt that not every piece of bad taste must become a criminal offence.

“Not every act of bad taste has to be an immediate criminal offence.”

Geiert said criminal law is the sharpest sword of the constitutional state rather than a super moral authority. She criticised the SPD-led ministry for planning an offence with unclear legal limits, which she said would raise expectations that criminal proceedings can hardly meet. The CDU coalition partner has voiced scepticism, while the comment period for the federal states and associations runs until the end of November.