Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) intends to expand the murder paragraph so that femicides can be classified as murder.
Hubig told Bild am Sonntag that killings motivated by gender-specific reasons should clearly count as murder. Current rulings sometimes reduce such cases to manslaughter, for instance when jealousy or possessive thinking is cited, resulting in lighter sentences.
Only a murder conviction allows for life imprisonment. Manslaughter carries penalties limited to around ten or twelve years, after which release is possible.
According to the Interior Ministry, 308 women and girls were killed in Germany in 2024. Of those, 191 died at the hands of partners, ex-partners or family members.
