As central Europe builds up to the climax of the carnival season next week there have already been a number of sex assaults by so-called asylum seekers, despite a massive police presence. Police in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the German state worst hit by the migrant sex attacks, have deployed thousands of officers to the streets of cities like Cologne and Dusseldorf, established city-centre “safe spaces” and erected powerful generator-powered floodlights in dark streets. Despite these extensive precautions, German women still don’t appear to feel safe, and there have been a number of attacks on the first full day of carnival. Under the headline “revellers in fear” German magazine Focus reports the comments of festival-goers who told reporters they wouldn’t have come without male escorts. And some who went out alone have learnt the hard way what it means to be a young woman in modern Germany. In Cologne, a 17-year-old Afghan migrant was arrested at his government-funded camp after he knocked down and raped a 22-year-old woman last night. He had approached her in the street and showed her “pornographic video” on his mobile phone, reports Kronen Zeitung. He suddenly, and without warning, struck her in the face, causing the woman to lose consciousness.