German island festival passes peacefully after criticism over practice of men hitting women

BERLIN (AP) — An annual festival on a German North Sea island that had drawn criticism because of a practice of men hitting women with cow’s horns has passed without reports of assaults this year. The Klaasohm festival on Borkum, the westernmost of a string of German islands, takes place on Dec. 5 ahead of St Nicholas’ Day. A report aired late last month showed women being stopped by costumed men and hit on the buttocks with a cow’s horn at the 2023 festival, and anonymous witnesses discussing aggressive behavior at the event. The association that organizes the festival said ahead of this year’s festival on Thursday that the practice would be scrapped and it would no longer tolerate violence against women.