“A brilliant lawyer’s plea not to leave the task of curbing violence to the courts.” (Manon Garcia)

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“Christina Clemm says what we don’t want to hear: Violence reflects the social conditions in which it occurs. What we need to know, and what we can do, is laid out in this urgently needed book.” (Maria Furtwängler)

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One after another, they rise to their feet: the representatives of the prosecution, the representatives of the joint plaintiffs, and the defense attorneys. They deliver their closing arguments. Christina Clemm is a family law attorney and criminal defense attorney who has fought countless times for the truth on behalf of victims, advocating for justice in the name of relatives, the abused, those who have been trafficked, and rape victims. And she is certain: What happens in courtrooms concerns us all. Every case touches on central social issues—racism, sexism, migration, hatred, anger, grief, guilt, and punishment—that extend far beyond our legal system. In this deeply personal plea, Christina Clemm takes us into the courtroom and shows where we, as a society, are failing—and how a future built on solidarity and justice is possible.

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Christina Clemm, born in 1967, is a criminal and family law attorney in Berlin. For nearly thirty years, she has represented victims of gender-based and racially motivated violence. Her book Akteneinsicht – Geschichten von Frauen und Gewalt was published in 2020, and her most recent polemic, Gegen Frauenhass, was published by Hanser Berlin in 2023.