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Victims of violence across Germany have varying chances of having their compensation applications recognized. According to BRsurvey, there is a lack of uniform decision-making criteria and standards in offices when dealing with traumatized people.
Anyone who has become a victim of intentional violence will no longer have their life as it was after the crime. Those affected can submit an application for victim compensation to the responsible pension offices. But it is by no means certain whether this will be approved – and the chances vary greatly depending on the federal state.
Only a few actually receive performance
During the application process, detailed information about the crime and the resulting damage to health must be provided. If the office recognizes a direct connection between the crime and the harm, victims of violence are entitled to compensation under certain conditions. This is how the Victim Compensation Act (OEG) regulates it – in theory. “It’s a question of who actually has a chance of accessing these special services,” says Kerstin Claus, the federal government’s abuse commissioner. In practice, this is often very difficult for those affected.
This also shows one BR-Survey in all federal states. Last year, according to their information, a little more than 10,000 OEG applications were decided across Germany – i.e. either rejected or approved. Almost 60 percent of the decisions were rejections.
In Bavaria, for example, 383 OEG applications were approved last year and 529 applications were rejected in the same year, i.e. almost 60 percent of the decisions were negative. Only in Hesse and Saxony were more applications approved than rejected. Statistically speaking, the chances of receiving compensation for victims of violence are significantly higher there. According to official information, almost 80 percent of decisions in Saxony last year were positive.
Experts call for uniform practice
“The problem is how the respective federal states implement the victim compensation law,” says Jörg Fegert, medical director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University Hospital in Ulm. “A good federal law would have to prevent individual practice in each country,” says Jörg Fegert. Those affected who move, for example, experienced that the issue was handled differently in the federal states. He is therefore campaigning for uniform training at the federal level.
It is said that the authorities do not statistically record why OEG applications are rejected BR-Inquiry. Bavaria reports that experience shows that one of the most common reasons for rejection is that the connection between the crime and the existing health problems cannot be proven.
Another common reason for an application to be rejected is that the crimes cannot be proven. According to experts, this is particularly true for those affected by sexual violence in childhood and adolescence because there are rarely witnesses to these acts.
Unofficial Reason for rejection
Another reason for rejection of victim compensation can be so-called “environmental damage”. This word is not in any law, but both victims’ associations and some authorities know this term out loud BR-Opinion poll. Affected people from difficult family backgrounds, who often experience violence and neglect, have the problem, says Kerstin Claus, that it is not possible to clearly determine where exactly the current “damage” comes from. “These people often have significantly worse chances of getting compensation, simply because depression, addictions or dropping out of education are often not seen as consequences of the crime.”
The Ministry of Social Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia writes that the term is “ethically inappropriate”. The concept of so-called “environmental damage” as a reason for rejection is “urgently in need of review”. And yet: In North Rhine-Westphalia too, a rejection notice that… BR is present, exactly as argued.
There are no standards for dealing with those affected
There are also no uniform standards for dealing with victims of violence. Are the clerks of OEG applications specifically trained in dealing with traumatized people, he asks BR at the responsible pension offices. The answers are very different: In Bavaria there is no need in this regard. “Direct personal contact that goes beyond written communication is very rare,” says Thomas Kerner from the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs.
In Hamburg you can also see the focus of the work in the legal area. The Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs, on the other hand, says that those affected are often severely traumatized and that the employees are therefore trained in how to deal sensitively with victims of violence. North Rhine-Westphalia also responds BR-Request that several employees have been trained accordingly.
Federal ministries reject responsibility
The responsible Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs writes upon request that the implementation of social compensation and thus also the Victim Compensation Act is the sole responsibility of the states, which carry out this task on their own responsibility. The states implemented the victim compensation law “as their own matter.” However, the ministry uses annual events to highlight the “importance of victim-sensitive procedures” and the “uniform application of laws across the country”.
From January 1st, 2024, the Victim Compensation Act will be amended and the various regulations will be summarized in Book XIV of the Social Security Code. What is new, for example, is that from 2024 victims of psychological violence and severe stalking will also be able to apply for compensation. In addition, so-called case managers will provide advice during the application process in the future. All in all, experts see primarily formal progress. According to experts, the problems continue to exist when it comes to the length of the procedures and the competence of the clerks.