Overview
- North Rhine–Westphalia and Hamburg formally submitted a motion at the justice ministers’ meeting in Leipzig to criminalize targeted, secret recordings of clothed intimate areas.
- Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said she will present a proposal in early 2026 and hopes the ban on voyeuristic recordings can take effect before the summer.
- Hubig stressed the law will target deliberate, sex‑motivated filming that causes fear and behavior change, while excluding incidental images like landscape photos with bystanders.
- The NRW Landtag showed broad support from CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP for closing the gap, as the AfD cautioned against overreach.
- Separately, Lower Saxony sought to make possession and distribution of adult rape videos punishable after an NDR exposé of global sharing networks, with legal experts urging careful drafting to distinguish real abuse from consensual content.