The public was horrified by the offence at the time and just over a year later, the perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Wuppertal district court. However, in addition to its legal treatment, the case raises numerous questions. For example, the connection between gender relations and violence: Christiane K. was probably a victim of sexualised violence herself at a young age, experienced a violent and manipulative partnership and was effectively a single parent responsible for six children. "The justified shock at the crime has made these connections fade into the background," explains Juliane Tauchnitz, representative of the Chair of French Literature and Cultural Studies and co-organiser of the event.

The French author Prune Antoine has traced the life and experiences of Christiane K. in her book "A Woman in Germany", which has just been published in German translation. Her descriptions are linked to reflections on the social and historical roles of mothers in Germany and France. "She not only tries to understand what went wrong in the case of Christiane K., but also what her actions say about our society," continues Tauchnitz.