Sexual offenses rise on Berlin public transport despite overall crime drop

Crimes such as theft, assault, property damage, and insults remain a concern on Berlin's public transport. In 2025, a total of 13,585 offenses were registered across subways, urban rail, trams, regional trains, and buses. While this represents a slight decrease from 2024, there was a notable increase in sexual offenses and the number of female victims.

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This trend has also become clear in previous years. 'Especially in S-Bahn and regional trains (incl. stations), U-Bahn (incl. stations) and tram stops, the detected offenses are increasing.'

Pickpocketing remains the most common crime, followed by other forms of theft and assaults. These incidents occur not only within vehicles but also frequently at stations and stops. The overall number of crimes saw a reduction of approximately twelve percent compared to the previous year.

However, there was a "shocking" increase of nearly nine percent in reported sexual offenses, rising from 388 cases in 2024 to 421 in 2025. This trend has been evident in previous years as well, with offenses increasing particularly in urban rail, regional trains (including stations), subways (including stations), and tram stops. It remains unclear whether these statistics reflect an actual rise in sexual crimes or an increased willingness among victims to report them.

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Sexualized violence on public transport is violence by men against women.

The data clearly indicates a gendered pattern in sexual offenses: while male perpetrators and victims are common in most violent crimes and thefts on public transport, sexual offenses primarily involve men as perpetrators and women as victims. In 2025, 407 victims were counted, with 364 being female (89 percent). Among recorded cases with a suspect, 171 out of 174 alleged perpetrators were male (98 percent). "Sexualized violence on public transport is violence by men against women," emphasized Green Party politician Antje Kapek.

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Safety strategies in trains and buses as well as at stops and stations are necessary in view of the growing number of sexual offenses.

Video surveillance proved to be of limited help in solving these crimes, with only 29 offenses solved through BVG video material analysis, five of which were sexual offenses. Kapek called for "safety strategies in trains and buses, as well as at stops and stations, in light of the growing number of sexual offenses." She argued that current measures are insufficient to protect women from assaults and reiterated calls for dedicated women-only compartments, at least as a pilot project.

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The existing measures are obviously not sufficient to protect women from assaults.