Cultural Barbarism in Relation to Women?: Huntington’s Theory and the German Case of Mass Sexual Assaults on New Year’s Eve 2015

Abstract

This article analyzes, from the perspective of Samuel Huntington’s hypothesis about a “clash of civilizations,” the nature of the mass sexual assaults on women committed by migrants coming from non-European countries on New Year’s Eve 2015 in Germany. It is argued that the fundamental cultural factor triggering this criminal behavior was the clash of a patriarchal culture of honor and Islamic ethical code with liberal Western urban culture. But the cultural factor was not isolated. The “non-cultural” factors, i.e. social, biological, psychological, demographic, and economic factors, played important role.

Keywords:

• clash of civilizations
• tahharush gamea
• sexual liberalization
• Islam
• liberal democracy

Notes

1 Based on questionnaires that explore values and beliefs in more than 70 countries, the WVS is an investigation of sociocultural and political change that encompasses over 80 percent of the world’s population.

2 The prohibition of covering faces was introduced by France, Belgium, Austria and, more recently, Denmark.

3 See: https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/country/docs/Germany/Germany-Data-Briefing-1Jan2016.pdf

4 International PEGIDA, UKIP in Great Britain, National Front in France, Freedom Party in the Netherlands, Alternative for Germany, Freedom Party of Austria, Golden Dawn in the Czech Republic, National Radical Camp in Poland.

5 IMAGES MENA study includes quantitative and qualitative research with nearly 10,000 men and women aged 18–59 from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine, including those from both urban and rural areas (as well as refugee settlements, where appropriate). The report presents the first round of IMAGES data collection in MENA region that was carried out between April 2016 and March 2017 (Other studies in the region are also planned). This multi-country study was coordinated by Promundo and UN Women. Promundo is a non-governmental organization founded in Brazil in 1997 to promote gender equality and create a world free from violence by engaging men and boys in partnership with women and girls.

6 My article, ‘Safety of western women in the context of migration crisis and clash of cultural values’ (Pasamonik 2018) includes an initial analysis of these factors.

7 Such is the proportion in the main groups from Syria (71%), Iraq (75%) and Afghanistan (89%) (Connor 2016).

8 Numerous studies, including nationally representative surveys, have found that widespread frustration and marginalization of young men have profound implications for their life trajectories (UNDP, RBAS 2016)

9 Data were provided by Google in response to the questions coming from different countries.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Barbara Pasamonik

Barbara Pasamonik (cultural anthropologist and sociologist) is an Associated Professor in the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw. She is a member of the editorial board of the quarterly “Kultura i Społeczen´stwo” (“Culture & Society”) and the bimonthly journal “Praca Socjalna” (“Social Work”). Her books include Rola płci w integracji europejskich muzułmanów (The Role of Gender in the Integration of European Muslims).