Many Muslim women recognized what happened on New Year’s Eve outside the Cologne Central Train Station from their own home countries. The problem is obvious to all and begins with circumcision, says Nalan Sipar.

Women in Saudi Arabia © Getty Images/AFP/F. Nureldine

Just a few days ago the UN agencies and international organizations urged people to join an appeal to end the war in Syria. Would their statement change something in Syria? Talks to resolve the Syrian crisis are scheduled for January 25. How about including women in the peace talks?

Cologne attacks got the most attention from our readers this week. Check out here if your comment has been chosen for this week’s Comments of the Week!

Demonstration for women’s rights in Cologne. “Keine Gewalt gegen Frauen” (no violence against women)

It wasn’t usual for me what I experienced nearly two weeks ago. On my way back home from work a group of boys passing by started whistling and singing songs in a language that was not English, Hindi, Urdu or German, the languages I recognize. It shocked me as it had never happened to me during my three years long stay in Germany. It shocked me even more when a similar incident happened to me again a few days later.

Cologne was the scene of mass sexual assault on New Year’s Eve. Police say more than 500 complaints have now been filed, with about 40 percent involving sexual offenses. Read more here and check out other news about women that made it to the headlines this week.

Demonstration against sexism in Cologne January 5, 2016 © picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg

On New Years’s Eve, hundreds of men sexually harassed women in public. How could this happen? What are the impacts of group dynamics in such a situation? Dr. Barbara Krahé, a social psychology professor, explains.