"Safe Space" has already protected five women at the Erlangen Bergkirchweih

Created: 2022-06-09 15:16

By: Nikolas Pelke

Employees inform young mountain visitors about the new "Safe Space" at the Erlangen Bergkirchweih.

© Rainer Hertwig/City of Erlangen

There is now a “Safe Space” at the Erlangen Bergkirchweih.

Five mountain visitors have already needed the shelter so far.

There are also Erlangen premieres at the "oldest folk festival in the world".

This year, the "Safe Space" "celebrates" its premiere at the Erlangen Bergkirchweih.

In the new shelter, church fair visitors should be able to escape from sexual harassment in an emergency.

"Five women have come to us so far because they felt sexually harassed at the Bergkirchweih," says Claudia Sigritz from the Erlangen women's emergency hotline recently on the preliminary interim report of the new contact point.

Claudia Sigritz wants to better protect female mountain guests from sexual assault with a new "Safe Space".

© Nikolas Pelke

A young mountain visitor would have suddenly felt a strange man's hand on the buttocks while driving a bumper car.

The victim was so perplexed that she immediately ran to the new "Safe Space".

"With us, the woman was still very upset and outraged," reports Sigritz.

How should the woman have behaved?

The head of the shelter emphasizes that it was absolutely the right decision to run away without a word.

“The victim ended an ugly situation.

Simply going is not a failure,” the expert clarifies.

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80 women have already visited the new "Safe Space" at the Erlangen Bergkirchweih

Around 80 women have so far visited the new "Safe Space" as part of the Bergkirchweih.

Of these, almost 20 women named a specific reason.

Around half of the visitors "only" informed themselves on site.

About 15 female mountain guests would have used the new "Safe Space" as a retreat.

Some girls would also have needed help on the way home.

The on-site helpers at Bayreuther Strasse 11 made sure that the girls got home safely.

“If necessary, we would also pay for a taxi from donations.

We prefer that to women being bothered on their way home,” says Claudia Sigritz from Erlangen’s women’s emergency hotline.

Employees inform mountain visitors about the new "Safe Space" directly at the Erlangen folk festival.

© Rainer Hertwig/City of Erlangen

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According to the association's website, the counseling center emerged in the 1980s from the feminist-political commitment of a group of women against sexualized violence in society.

The work of the women's emergency hotline is now financed by grants from the city of Erlangen, the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt and the Free State of Bavaria, as well as donations and membership fees.

The old "life rafts" are history at the Erlangen Bergkirchweih

At the Bergkirchweih before the Corona break, there were still “life islands” for women and girls with the paramedics.

Sigritz and her fellow campaigners apparently successfully used the two-year break in the mountains to set up their own "safe space" in the Evangelisches Gemeindehaus on Bayreuther Straße right at the foot of the Kellerwald.

The concept of the campaign launched in 2016 "Have fun - no hassle.

No sexual violence on the mountain!” has been fundamentally revised for the restart of the current Bergkirchweih.

With the help of the open contact point, the individual sense of security for mountain visitors should be increased.

The focus should be on preventive work.

Employees are therefore also specifically on the road at the Bergkirchweih.

Posters around the Kellerwald are intended to draw additional attention to the new "Safe Space" for female mountain guests.

There have "always" been cases of sexual assault, especially at church fairs and folk festivals.

"The alcohol simply has a disinhibiting effect," Sigritz, who has been working for the women's emergency hotline for over 30 years, is certain.

For a long time, sexual harassment was considered a "minor crime".

Due to the massive attacks on New Year's Eve in Cologne, the criminal offenses were noticeably tightened.

Fortunately, the whole of society was made aware of these terrible incidents.

All news and stories from Bavaria can now also be found on our brand new Facebook page Merkur Bayern.