“We take responsibility.” This is what the Protestant Church, regional churches and deacons promise after the publication of a study on sexual violence. This reveals decades of failure at all levels.
The Protestant Church, all 20 regional churches and the Diakonie apparently see themselves as having an obligation to carry out a study on sexual violence. “Sexualized violence is part of the reality of our church and our diakonia,” says a statement from the regional churches, the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and the federal board of Diakonie Germany. “We take responsibility,” those involved announced.
The results of the forum study revealed decades of failure at all levels and in all regional churches. Those affected were not heard, acts were not dealt with, perpetrators were protected and responsibility was not accepted. The investigation into sexual violence in the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Diakonie, presented at the end of January, documented at least 2,225 victims and 1,259 suspected perpetrators over the past decades.
The scientists assume that the actual number is much higher because not all relevant files from the regional churches and regional diaconal associations have been viewed. Study director Martin Wazlawik spoke of the “tip of the iceberg”. The KNA news agency writes that the researchers based an extrapolation on the number of almost 10,000 people affected.
Consultations aimed at a “clear action plan”
According to the church’s statement, the participation forum – together with researchers – will discuss the results and recommendations for the first time in mid-February. “In the participation forum, in our state synods and locally in the church districts and communities as well as at all levels of the diakonia, we will deal transparently and openly with the results of the forum study and their significance for our church and diakonia,” announced the incumbent EKD- Council Chairwoman Kirsten Fehrs and Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch.
It is right that representatives of those affected as well as church and diaconal representatives in the participation forum “develop a clear plan of action for the Protestant Church and diaconal services as a whole,” the statement says. They are also committed to “uniform standards of prevention and transparency, uniform recognition procedures and a uniform process for further processing sexual violence.”
Regional independent review commissions are currently being set up in associations of regional churches and regional associations in order to continue dealing with sexualized violence in the Protestant church and diakonia.
Incapacity for conflict and harmony compulsion
A nationwide independent review commission initiated in 2016 had accused the Protestant Church of serious failings. The self-perception of large parts of the church as progressive and liberal as well as a need for harmony have led to the myth that the Protestant church is a safe place, said the committee in Berlin. There was an “environment of fraternity” dominated by an inability to deal with conflict.
The committee has nationwide jurisdiction and was initiated by the federal government’s then abuse commissioner, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig. It is intended to investigate the extent, type and consequences of child sexual abuse in the Federal Republic and the GDR.
Compensations demanded in the amount of 300,000 euros
The commission also criticized cases of lack of transparency, blurring of responsibility and a lack of binding rules when dealing with border crossings. The Protestant Church must subject its specific attitude to critical – including theological – reflection and create clear and uniform standards for all Protestant organizations and institutions.
The committee also called on the Protestant Church to enshrine in canon law the right to individual processing, including the right to access files as widely as possible. The benchmark for the amount of the payment should therefore be the sum of 300,000 euros, which the Cologne Regional Court awarded in June 2023 to a person affected by sexual violence in the area of the Catholic Church.