Content warning: This story is about an assault and photos show blood. 

DJs Kim Ann Foxman and Cora were attacked in an apparent hate crime in Berlin last week.

The artists and couple shared their account on Saturday (6th April), the day after the assault, which occurred in broad daylight and left them bloodied and bruised. The pair, who were celebrating their first anniversary as a couple that weekend, were walking between popular neighbourhoods Kreuzberg and Neukolln when a woman walking past “reached out and grabbed Cora’s crotch, completely unprovoked”.

“When Cora turned around to confront the woman, asking why she touched her, without pause, the woman immediately lunged at Cora, throwing punches to her face”, Foxman wrote in an Instagram post. “It happened so fast, and before I could even process what was happening, the force of the punches knocked her to the ground, and blood was dripping down her cheek.”

A man who was walking with the female attacker then reportedly joined in the assault as Foxman tried to defend Cora. “I was beaten to the ground by both of them”, Foxman said, and “they proceeded to kick me in the back and legs.”

Foxman said she and Cora were “yelling out” to the people in the area for help, but no one came to their aid. “At one point, I ran into traffic crying, pleading for someone to help”, she said. “When it was clear no one around would do anything to help, I got my phone out and started to record. Doing this pissed off the assailants, and instead of walking away, they punched me again, shoved me to the ground, and repeatedly kicked me (again).” Foxman wrote, “Cora and I are still discovering new bruises from the three different times we were pinned to the ground and beaten.”

Foxman said their identities were clearly a factor in the assault. “We can’t help but feel how being a visibly affectionate queer Asian female couple played into this”, she wrote. “From the moment that woman placed her hands on Cora in a sexual manner, it was undoubtedly linked to our sexual identity. That is why we feel like a police report is not enough, and furthermore, those systems uphold the injustices that made us vulnerable to begin with. Our queer, rave, and Asian communities need to hear from us directly.”

See Kim Ann Foxman and Cora’s Instagram post in full below. They have included censored photos of the unidentified attackers.