Knockout drops: Harsher punishments decided - there is still a lot to be done to protect women

Last Friday, a majority in the Bundestag voted to tighten penalties for the use of knockout drops. Perpetrators use these to anesthetize other people, for example to carry out sexual violence or to rob them. The minimum sentence for such sexual and robbery offenses was previously three years' imprisonment. In the future it should be at least five years.

This was preceded by a legal debate about whether knockout drops constitute a “dangerous tool” according to Section 177 of the Criminal Code (StGB). The Federal Court of Justice ruled in October 2024 that they would not fall under this category because “dangerous tools” must be solid objects. This dispute is important because the sentence for using a “dangerous tool” is at least five years. The Federal Council argued against this and called for a bill that would set five years as the minimum sentence.

Federal Council: Knockout drops should be considered a dangerous tool

As early as July 2025, the first signal against knockout drops was sent by banning the manufacturing substances GBL (gamma-butyrolactone) and BDO (1,4-butanediol). Over a year later, the government proposal was adopted with broad support - only the AfD abstained - and the "strengthening of criminal protection against so-called knockout drops" was initiated. While the government coalition spoke of having closed a loophole in the law, Luke Hoß from the Left demanded that the offense of “rape” when using knockout drops was not enough and that “chemical subjugation” should be used instead. Hoß wants the use of knockout drops to enable sexualized violence not to be viewed simply as a form of rape, but also to be conceptually visible as a particularly serious form of targeted elimination of the will.

Dr. Lena Gumnior from the Greens pointed out that increasing the penalty for using knockout drops should only be the beginning. From their point of view, a patriarchal culture developed that was an expression of the “self-image […] of male power”. She called for spiking, i.e. administering drugs without the knowledge of those affected, to be punished more harshly.

The unsolicited administration of narcotics is just one of many issues when it comes to improving the protection of women. Some acts are not even listed in the criminal code. This includes, for example, the creation of deepfakes or cybergrooming, i.e. the targeted manipulation of minors via the Internet. Hate speech or digital voyeurism are also not yet adequately dealt with under criminal law. A current and prominent example of digital voyeurism is the Collien Fernandes case, in which the actor Christian Ulmen is confronted with the allegations of his former wife Collien Fernandes. She accuses him of distributing fake videos of her naked or performing sexual acts on the Internet.

Deepfake pornography and sexual violence on the Internet are booming - the Collien Fernandes case is just the tip of the iceberg

But even when it comes to aspects of sexual violence that are already known, the state's wheels grind very slowly. There has been talk of punishing so-called “catcalling”, i.e. harassing another person through a sexual statement or gesture, for a long time. This legislative proposal has not yet progressed beyond the draft phase. In addition, an adjustment to the murder paragraph § 211 StGB is planned, through which femicides, i.e. killings based on the female gender of the victim, are to be recognized as acts of particular injustice. According to this, homicides that are specifically directed against women would be treated as murder and could not be tried as manslaughter.

Another topic that requires action is the so-called “Only Yes means Yes” regulation as a further development of the previous principle “No means No”. Spain, for example, passed a corresponding law in 2022, which requires express consent to sexual acts in order for them to be considered consensual. In Germany, such an initiative failed in the summer of this year due to an agreement by the Justice Ministers' Conference.

There is a lot of discussion, but little is decided - and if there is, then often only after lengthy political processes. However, when it comes to concrete measures such as financing women's shelters, preventing attacks against women or tackling patriarchal violence within the police, there is a lack of determination and clear positioning.