Rampage in Lörrach: How can a woman do such a thing?
The conflict and violence adviser Sabine Wieczorkowsky, 44, has been advising violent women and girls for several years and is the head of training at the Intervention Forum
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What was your first thought when you heard about the killing spree?
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: I was scared and immediately thought: Now the last male bastion has fallen. So far, we know killing sprees in German-speaking countries only by men.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: There are often adolescents like Tim K. in Winnenden, who turn into gunmen. And most of the time they are outsiders.
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: We know that the perpetrator in Lörrach was a lawyer, that is an educated woman, rather than an outsider. The unusual thing is that she not only wanted to annihilate herself and her family, but also attacked completely strangers in rage.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What happens in a person who commits such an act?
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: I think this woman has been more than angry in the traditional sense. She may have only seen herself as a victim, has stepped in there. She felt emotionally dead and wanted to tell the world. Such a feeling can lead to a blind, vengeful revenge directed against everyone.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: We know that Sabine R. was freshly separated from her husband, the son lived by the man, there was a custody battle ...
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: Are these reasons to kill someone? We always have to think about amok runs: where could the woman have gotten help? The deed seems to have been planned - as so often in rampages. Otherwise she would not have taken the knife, pistol and the accelerator. So I do not think it was a blackout. She certainly felt like a victim: the separation, the indignation of not getting the boy, the feeling that nobody sees how she suffers.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Many people experience that - and do not kill anyone. Why does a woman destroy what she likes best, her child? And why is she running amok?
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: I actually think that this woman was desperate, saw herself as a victim. This culminated in the feeling that if I can not live anymore, everyone else should die too.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Do you see any parallels with violent women coming to you for advice?
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: Few people can imagine women as perpetrators. But there are many women who beat their children or their husband. To me come women who have sometimes practiced brutal violence - and feel like a victim. I experience that again and again. And they are encouraged by society in it. They become out of self-defense perpetrators or they defend themselves against long-term violence by the partner or the fathers.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: But that's usually true too ...
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: Yes, but we still have to start to look at it differently. We have to learn to say: This woman has experienced bad things, but if she beats her child or her husband, she is the culprit. She also has to take responsibility for that. When I have a woman with such a background in front of me, I can not mix perpetrator and victim all the time.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: And what does that mean in Sabine R.?
Sabine Wieczorkowsky: The gunman is dead, she will not be able to tell us what was going on in her. There will be many explanations in the media in the near future. I look forward to the apologies that will point to their victim role. But for me, it is important for perpetrators that I take them to account for their actions. That means I take this woman seriously - and only then can I work with her. That will not work if I leave them in victim status.
