ILLUSTRATION - 14.03.2022, Sachsen, Leipzig: ARCHIV - Ein Missbrauchsopfer sitzt beispielhaft in einem Raum mit mehreren Videokameras und Mikrofonen für eine Aufzeichnung seiner Aussage im Childhood-Haus. In Berlin wird am 30.05.2022 die polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2021 mit Zahlen kindlicher Gewaltopfer vorgestellt. Foto: Jan Woitas/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Vladimir’s grandma is really okay, she always has Black Forest cake and ice cream. But the fact that she showers him with sloppy kisses every time when he greets him is really annoying. At the age of ten you really don’t have to have that anymore. On the other hand, Vladimir is also damn shy, he doesn’t dare to tell his grandmother to keep her distance. What do you do in such a case?

The actors from the “Kompanie Kopfstand” asked around 80 schoolchildren this question on Monday. They were sitting in the auditorium of a theater in Wedding, they had just seen the play “Trau Dich” and now they were supposed to provide answers.

There were original ones (“They say you have Corona”) and pragmatic ones (“You write a letter to your grandmother about your problems” or “You ask your mother for help”), but it always went in the right direction: solutions, um Express feelings, set boundaries, get someone to help if necessary.

The first, important building block for the actual, big topic of this play – the prevention of sexual abuse – is to develop self-confidence, but also to sensitize teachers and parents to the alarm signals from children.

“Trust yourself” is an initiative of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and the Federal Center for Health Education. Since 2011, the federal states have been able to implement this project in their schools in cooperation with the federal headquarters. Eleven countries have already adopted it, six of them permanently.

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Berlin has been one of these six federal states since Monday. “Trust You” has been performed in the capital since 2017, but so far the federal center has covered most of the costs. Since Monday, Berlin has been financing the project with 90,000 euros per year alone.

It is thus permanently established in the city. Education Senator Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD) was present at the license handover in the theater. “Now the existing prevention offers for sexual abuse in the country are being expanded to include a further component,” she said.

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The project also includes training courses for teachers and other educational professionals. Before the performances, parents also receive information about the play and tips for talking to their boys and girls.

The aim is always to give children the self-confidence to confide in teachers, parents or help centers when they experience sexual harassment or even abuse.

So far, 6,784 students have seen “Trust You” in 28 performances in Berlin. The target group are boys and girls from eight to twelve years of age. Specialist departments such as “Wildwasser”, “Berliner Jungs” or “Strohhalm” are involved in the project.

To date, 652 teachers and other educational professionals have taken part in 31 training courses. 39 parents’ evenings were attended by 669 legal guardians.

A student on the podium provided what was probably the most convincing solution to Vladimir’s problem: “Just give Grandma a lick, then she’ll know what it’s like.”