Abuse study for Protestant church is presented

Hanover (KNA): An independent team of researchers will present the first nationwide study on sexualised violence in the Protestant Church and Diakonie at the end of January. The results will be presented at a press conference in Hanover on 25 January, the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts announced on Wednesday. The study offers “a first broader approach to researching and analysing aspects of sexualised violence in the Protestant Church and Diaconia in Germany”.

According to the information provided, representatives of those affected and the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) will take part in the presentation alongside the researchers. The current Chair of the EKD Council, Bishop Kirsten Fehrs, will make a statement.

The EKD commissioned the study a good three years ago at a cost of around 3.6 million euros. The researchers are to investigate the causes and characteristics of sexualised violence in the Protestant Church in six sub-studies. All regional churches and diaconal organisations are to be included in the study.

The research team is working under the title “ForuM – Research into the processing of sexualised violence and other forms of abuse in the Protestant Church and Diaconia in Germany”. It is coordinated by Martin Wazlawik, Professor of Social Work at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Bishop Fehrs estimates that the study will list more than the approximately 900 cases known to date. She expects that there will be “painful findings with regard to how we have dealt with cases of sexualised violence in the past”, she recently told the “Tagesspiegel” newspaper.

A study on cases of abuse in the Catholic Church in Germany between 1946 and 2014 was published in 2018. It found evidence of 3,677 victims of sexual abuse nationwide and around 1,670 accused priests, deacons and religious. The study was one of the triggers for the Catholic reform dialogue Synodal Way.