Psychologist: voyeurism caused by male desire for dominance

"The motive is usually the desire for power, to control the situation, to exploit vulnerabilities," said graduate psychologist leonhard oesterle from deining in bavaria in an interview with the dpa news agency in saarbrucken.

In recent times, cases of such voyeurism have repeatedly come to light. Last week, a police officer in the saarland region was suspended from his duties for allegedly filming at least 14 women – for example, while changing their clothes.

According to oesterle, such behavior is based on feelings of inferiority: "the perpetrators often have difficulty dealing with their own experiences of powerlessness. At the same time, they often feel very safe," said the psychologist. Therefore, the "need for dominance" usually outweighed the fact that they could endanger their existence with their behavior.

It is an open question, he said, whether the number of such cases of voyeurism has increased in recent years. The sexism debate about the behavior of FDP parliamentary group leader rainer bruderle alone has made the public more sensitive than it used to be. Moreover, today you can buy mini cameras at any electronics store, which was not possible 20 to 30 years ago, oesterle said.

The debate must be continued in order to avoid such "attacks on women’s personal rights" as far as possible: "the classic behavior of men must be questioned again and again," said oesterle. Young manneres had to be encouraged to talk about their own fainting feelings.