The leader of the Green Party, Franziska Brantner, addressed the safety concerns of women on the way home at night in an Instagram video. In it, she describes various precautionary measures women take to feel safer while traveling. CDU member of the Bundestag Christoph Ploß criticizes the fact that Brantner does not address the statistical distribution of suspects in her contribution.
In the video, Brantner describes situations that women might be familiar with on the way home: keeping the key handy, sharing your location with friends, making a phone call or changing the side of the street. The Green politician recreates the scenes and says: “I’m not being persecuted, but I still know that feeling and so do many, many women.”
The CDU politician is referring to the Greens' migration policy stance and their criticism of certain deportation plans by the federal government. In June, Brantner signed an open letter against talks with Taliban representatives about repatriations to Afghanistan. The signatories described the invitation of the Islamists to Europe as a “serious mistake”.
Proportion of non-German suspects in violent crime
In her video, Brantner does not address the nationality of the suspects. According to police crime statistics for 2025, 42.9 percent of violent crime suspects recorded did not have German citizenship. The Federal Criminal Police Office describes this proportion as “significant over-representation”.
According to the available figures, the proportion of non-German suspects in rape, sexual assault and particularly serious sexual assault was 38.5 percent. For comparison: at the end of 2025, around 14.9 percent of the population in Germany did not have German citizenship.
The numbers refer to suspects, not to legally convicted perpetrators. In addition, no reason for the statistical differences can be derived from the comparison with the population share alone. Among other things, age and gender structure as well as social factors must be taken into account when making a classification.
Brantner criticized Merz in the cityscape debate
In the debate about the feeling of security in public spaces, Brantner had already expressed criticism of statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). When asked about the so-called cityscape, Merz said: "Ask your daughters what I could have meant by that. I suspect you'll get a pretty clear and distinct answer."
The Chancellor later clarified his statements and referred to problems with migrants who “do not follow our rules”.
Brantner then criticized the Chancellor's choice of words. “We need a chancellor who connects, not a chancellor who speaks in enigmatic sentences that put everyone under suspicion and then refers to some daughters,” she said.
At the same time, she acknowledged that there are places where people can feel unsafe. She gave train stations as an example.
“Bild” asked Brantner whether her party shared responsibility for the existing security problems. The Green Party leader did not answer the request on Sunday.
