Interview with Anette W.
Mother freed after 5 months in jail—despite no conviction in custody battle
our website: Anette W., you were released from Hildesheim Women's Prison early Friday morning after five months inside. How are you doing?
Anette W.: I'm very relieved to be free—it's an incredible feeling. On Friday morning, I had a promising meeting with child protective services right after my release. They made it clear that my daughter should live with me from now on. I do have to accept outpatient support, but otherwise, there's nothing standing in the way.
our website: You were arrested in Frankfurt in November 2025, where you had been living with your daughter. What was prison like for you?
Anette W.: Being in custody was a total shock. The first few days, I was in a police holding cell with nothing but a tiled slab to sleep on, a sink, and a toilet. There was nothing to do—not even a clock. Time dragged on endlessly.
our website: What happened after that?
Anette W.: Then I was transferred to Hildesheim Prison. Conditions there weren't much better. The walls had mold, there was a chronic staff shortage, so we were locked up more often than we were supposed to be. There were no programs, no activities. I wasn't allowed to work, either. That means you have endless time with nothing to do.
our website: You weren't even convicted of a crime. Do you understand why the court kept you locked up for so long?
Anette W.: The court clearly wanted to punish me for what had happened before. The worst part is that my daughter suffered because of it. She had to go into a children's home when I was imprisoned, and the conditions there were extremely difficult for her. That's what I find truly appalling. And I still think it's completely disproportionate that I was sentenced to 150 days in coercive detention for something that wouldn't even carry a prison sentence under criminal law.
our website: Your daughter ran away from her father to you back in 2021. You later moved with her from Hanover to Frankfurt and essentially went into hiding. Was that the reason for your imprisonment?
Anette W.: We didn't go into hiding and move to Frankfurt until 2023, after two years of trying to resolve things through the courts. The reason was that my daughter refused to go back to her father. They claimed I was withholding her, but I repeatedly told him he could come and pick her up. He didn't want that—he insisted on using police force to take her. There was even a police operation, but they called it off. Child protective services also visited our home and decided she should stay with me. And yet, I was still sentenced to detention for allegedly refusing to hand her over.
our website: Your long detention was widely seen as a scandal. The Single Parents' Association is demanding that coercive detention be abolished from family law. Do you support that call?
Anette W.: Absolutely. The circumstances under which I was sentenced border on arbitrariness. I wasn't even given a personal hearing. In a criminal case, that wouldn't have been allowed. The court simply made false claims—denying that my daughter even wanted to live with me, accusing me of socially isolating her, which was proven wrong since she was well integrated. They also claimed she wasn't in school, but that was disproven, too. Even after all these allegations were debunked, the detention wasn't lifted because, under family law, there's no mechanism to reverse it. So I sat in prison for five and a half months without any real trial.
our website: The detention also caused you serious harm—you lost your home, for example. Is there anything you can do now to challenge what happened?
Anette W.: I don't know yet. Right now, my focus is on getting my older daughter back and being allowed contact with my younger one. But in principle, I think it's wrong to punish a parent with imprisonment over where a child wants to live. The child always suffers the most.
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