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Abuse has long been considered a problem in the Catholic Church - until now: For the first time, a comprehensive study has shed light on sexual violence among Protestants.
The numbers are clear.
And yet it is the tip of the iceberg.
Hanover - Sexualized violence and abuse also in the Protestant Church: A study on sexualized violence in the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Diakonie has documented at least 2,225 victims and 1,259 suspected perpetrators over the past decades.
However, this is only the “tip of the tip of the iceberg,” said study leader Martin Wazlawik from Hannover University of Applied Sciences on Thursday when presenting the study.
“I would ask you to take this into account when classifying the numbers and findings.” Those affected urged that the processing of cases and structures should be pushed forward more strongly - also with the help of the state.
“We need the state to take responsibility here.
Because it has been shown again and again that the church is not a counterpart for those affected,” said Katharina Kracht, representative of those affected and member of the research association’s advisory board.
External experts and complaints bodies are needed; processing is the supreme discipline.
From their point of view, the regional churches lack competence and probably also interest in actually uncovering cases.
“If such investigations are not undertaken, perpetrators will remain undetected.”
The case numbers of 2,225 affected people determined in the study are based on files from the regional churches and diaconal services, and cases known to the regional churches and diaconal organizations were also included.
However, the scientists were not able to evaluate all the personal files of all pastors and deacons, but primarily disciplinary files.
Based on their method, the experts came to an estimated total of 3,497 defendants.
However, the figures presented “significantly underestimate” the extent, said Wazlawik.
The EKD initiated the study in 2020.
Wazlawik emphasized that “no comparisons” could be made with the Catholic Church or other institutions.
“The numbers in no way suggest a lower number of accused in the Protestant Church and Diakonia.” A study published in 2018 on sexual violence in the Catholic Church showed: After evaluating almost 40,000 personnel files from the period between 1945 and 2014, 1,670 Catholic priests and deacons were accused, to whom 3,677 children and young people could be assigned as those affected.
At the time, scientists emphasized that the number was “a lower estimate.”
Although the study comes late, it is important for those affected because they were included in the investigation, said Kracht.
However, she criticized the fact that the Protestant Church could have acted long ago.
The study can therefore only be a beginning.
“If the EKD now wants to retreat into the back rooms again until the synod, that will be a huge disappointment for the many people affected.” There should not be any more time wasted.
“It’s enough, it’s been long enough.”
In her case, she had to wait years for an explanation.
Kracht was severely sexually abused by a Protestant pastor in Nenndorf near Hamburg in Lower Saxony in the 1980s and 1990s.
As it only later emerged, the pastor, who died in 2013, had abused other girls both in Nenndorf and in his previous parish in Wolfsburg.
When presenting the study, the current EKD council chairwoman Kirsten Fehrs apologized to those affected.
“As an institution, we have also been guilty of harming countless people,” said the Hamburg bishop.
She could only apologize “from the bottom of her heart.”
She was “deeply shocked” by the overall picture shown by the study: “Time and time again, since I have been dealing with the issue, I have been sincerely shocked by this abysmal violence that has been inflicted on so many people in our church,” she said.
The church will accept the results with humility.
Fehr's predecessor Annette Kurschus resigned as EKD council chairwoman and president of the regional church of Westphalia last November.
The background was allegations that Kurschus had known many years ago of suspected sexually assaultive behavior against a church employee in the Siegen church district at the time.
Kurschus denies the allegations, but said that she does not want to harm those affected by sexual violence with headlines by remaining in office.
In the past, criticism has been voiced several times about the slowness in coming to terms with abuse among Protestants.
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The EKD initiated the study in 2020.
The aim was to analyze Protestant structures that promote violence and abuse of power.
The investigation was financed with 3.6 million euros.
As an umbrella organization of 20 regional churches, the EKD represents 19.2 million Protestant Christians nationwide.
Those affected by sexual violence can currently apply for individual voluntary benefits.
According to the EKD, these are based on compensation for pain and suffering and are usually between 5,000 and 50,000 euros.
By the end of 2022, the regional churches of the EKD had reported 858 applications for such recognition services.
The psychiatrist Harald Dressing, as part of the research group, criticized the “slow cooperation from the regional churches”.
This led to a significant delay, and in some cases “insufficient data” was transmitted, he said.
“We didn’t express any wishes, but rather we had a research design, which we communicated clearly from the start and which the Protestant Church also contractually committed to.” This included a systemic personnel file analysis.
This could not be fully implemented.
dpa