Initiator and co-founder Nina Fuchs on how KO – Kein Opfer e.V. came about:

“The roots of this non-profit organisation are strongly entwined with my own story – a story that began on April 18, 2013 and changed my whole life. That night I was raped under the influence of knockout drops. Five years later, in May 2018, the alleged perpetrator was identified on a police database from DNA in his sperm. Even so, the public prosecutor’s office in Munich decided to close the case, and neither my lawyer’s appeal nor a very successful online petition with over 100,000 signatures coupled with extensive media attention could reverse that decision. I felt powerless, despondent, anguished, frustrated.

The publicity I generated meant that more and more people got in touch with me to share their stories. My eyes were opened. I saw that what I had experienced was not an isolated tragedy. The same story had happened and was happening time and time and time again. All those cases clearly showed that victims of sexualised violence face structural discrimination in the legal system. The fight for a fair trial, let alone a conviction or commensurate punishment, is doomed almost from the outset, as statistics clearly show: In Germany, only 7.5 percent of reported rapes result in a conviction. A huge 85% of rapes go unreported, so the true conviction rate is only around one in a hundred.

One day, my sister gave me the idea of founding an organisation to help others. And I knew in my heart that was precisely what I would do – set up an organisation that would stand up for the rights of victims of sexualised violence, give those victims a voice and fight to bring the subject much needed attention. I want to bring about a sea change in society and do everything I can to finally put an end to the taboo and shame surrounding rape.”