One winter noon, 30 -year -old advertiser Yani Gentz ​​made jogging in Cologne Park. At one point she realized that she was followed by a cyclist, filming her with his cellphone. Gentz ​​reacted immediately and forced him to delete the video. She then took off her cellphone and recorded the perpetrator.

But when he attempts to report him, he is told that the man’s behavior is not criminal.

One (other) video turned viral

Her video shows her voyeurism obviously taken aback by her determination. The man merely crushes some excuses, he claims that “nothing happened”, while trying to blame her: “Why are you wearing such pants?” She tells her. Gentz ​​responded to him with a phrase that has become a slogan of the movement that has begun: “My clothes are not an invitation!”

The video was immediately viral, gathering over 16 million views on Instagram and triggering a wave of solidarity with the woman.

Ministry Justice: The law must set clear boundaries

It thus began a campaign with a demand to criminalize “all the voyeuristic shots”. Over 100,000 people signed the call, which Gentz ​​handed over last Monday to the Minister of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia, Beniaim Libach (Greens).

In November, the Ministers of Justice of all the German Federal states will meet at an annual conference and are expected to discuss an amendment to the Criminal Code. Libach is in favor of the amendment. “Our law must set clear limits when parts of the body are filmed or secretly photographed for sexual purposes or against one’s will,” he said.

Gentz’s initiative has triggered a national level in Germany, not only on social media, but also in major newspapers, radio stations and even news broadcasts in high television hours. This is partly due to Gentz’s own ability to express a daily reality for almost all women in Germany.

Sources: DW, WDR, Der Spiegel