As of: 03/23/2022 7:06 p.m
The commission for dealing with child sexual abuse calls for more concrete action in schools. There are good protection concepts, but the implementation is “embarrassing”.
School is a common crime scene for abuse. Anna is one of 160 victims who have come forward to the Commission:
It happened to a teacher when I was in school. He was 50 when it started, I was 14. I was having a lot of problems with my father at the time. My teacher was very interested in me and my problems. It started with harmless things. He once drove me home or invited me to his home to watch football. When I was 15, it continued physically. I thought that was part of it.
At the time, there was no independent agency where she could have spoken to someone anonymously, says Anna. She would like more awareness. Because it can happen anywhere. “And it can also take place in such an ambivalence. The teacher is very nice and committed, but is still someone who abuses children.”
“The inclination of the teacher was known in the college”
Lars, as the person affected, had a similar experience in his case.
One might have to add that later it turned out that the teachers who were still alive and who taught me at the time, even knew this in the college. The teacher’s inclination had been known in the college for years and he was then advised to only teach in the upper grades.
All types of school affected
Commission member Brigitte Tilmann says that many of the victims found that the perpetrators were on duty at the school until they retired. Because many schools praise their prevention projects, but don’t want to deal with the past: “You’re afraid of looking back, you’re afraid of having the wrong suspicion. These are these typical brakes. It’s symptomatic and happens in many schools like that . And our intention is to overcome that.”
According to Tilmann, there were sexual assaults in all types of schools: elementary schools, high schools, secondary schools and schools for the deaf, as the new evaluation shows. The abuse took place in the director’s office, in the library, in the sickroom, but also during class or at teachers’ homes. “It would actually also be important for prevention concepts to know what happened when there were suspicions of sexual abuse in schools,” says Tilmann.
Politics wants culture change
Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel supports the work of the commission and announces an information and awareness-raising campaign: “We want to make it clear that everyone can do something to help affected children and young people. Let’s end the taboo. Let’s promote a culture of looking and action, instead of looking the other way and remaining silent.”
There are already excellent prevention concepts and papers, says Commissioner Tilmann. But the implementation is disgraceful. Because according to the German Youth Institute, as of 2018, only 13 percent of the schools have so far implemented a comprehensive protection concept. She wishes for more, says Tilmann.
Sexual Abuse and School
Anette van Koeverden, ARD Berlin, March 23, 2022 5:47 p.m