Germany votes for harsher punishment for date rape drug cases

Members of the German parliament have voted in favour of harsher punishments for criminals who are found to have targeted people with so-called “date rape drugs”.

Harsher punishment for roofie drugging in Germany

According to a new law passed by the German parliament, criminals who target people with so-called “date rape drugs” in sexual assault, rape or robbery cases will now face minimum custodial prison sentences of five years, up from three years.

The law change is a response to an October 2024 Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruling that date rape drugs, also known as “roofies” in English or “K.o. tropfen” in German, are not considered a “dangerous weapon”. 

The BGH ruling means that prosecutors cannot automatically seek harsher sentencing for sexual assault, rape or robbery cases where the victim was drugged, in the same way that they are able to if the crime involved something which is considered a “dangerous weapon” under German law, such as a knife.

Date rape drugs include rohypnol, GHB and GBL, and are commonly used by people who want to commit sexual assault because they are odourless and colourless, leave the targeted person physically weak, can cause memory loss, and leave the body after a short period, making them hard to detect.

Hubig says new law is deterrent, critics call it “symbolic”

Speaking in parliament, Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) said the new law would act as a “strong stop sign” for anyone considering using roofies to commit a crime, according to a report from Tagesschau. 

“We need education, we need better prevention - everything that goes with it,” Hubig said, adding that the updated law was only one part of a wider discussion. Linda Heitmann (Greens) agreed that more holistic action was needed to reduce the rising number of reported sexual assault cases. 

Nina Fuchs, chair of the victim support organisation Kein Opfer (No Victim), said the Bundestag move to introduce tougher custodial sentencing was nothing more than symbolic, since many perpetrators are not convicted at all.

Speaking to public broadcaster WDR 5, Fuchs explained that most sexual assault cases go unreported due to shame or difficulty gathering evidence. The number of reported sexual assault cases is, however, rising in Germany. 

While overall crime figures fell in 2025, figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office show that there were 14.500 reported cases of sexual coercion, serious sexual assaults and rape, 8,5 percent more reported cases than in 2024.

Speaking to WDR 5, Fuchs called for more training for police officers and judicial staff on how confidential evidence should be collected in sexual assault cases.