Changes in personnel at the Independent Commission for Dealing with Child Sexual Abuse: Silke Gahleitner, professor at the Alice Salomon University in Berlin with a focus on clinical psychology and social work, and Julia Gebrande, professor at the Esslingen University with a focus on prevention, intervention and coming to terms with sexualised violence and Social work after traumatic experiences have been appointed to the commission.
They replace Brigitte Tilmann, the former president of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, and Peer Briken, director of the Institute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Both were long-time members of the board.
The commission has been investigating the extent, type and consequences of sexualized violence against children and young people in the Federal Republic and the GDR since 1949. The commission members rely on confidential hearings and written reports.
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These reports are made by adults who have been victims of sexual violence in their childhood, either in family structures, by strangers or by perpetrators in organizations or institutions. These include schools, sports clubs and church institutions. But scout facilities have also been places where abuse happened.
The commission’s task is also to provide information on research areas that serve prevention but can also enable even better processing. In addition, the commission members also uncover structures that made sexual abuse possible in the first place. This is intended to strengthen prevention and provide material for protection concepts. The current term of the commission ends in December 2023.
Those affected and contemporary witnesses who would like to report child sexual abuse to the commission can contact the commission by telephone (0800 4030040 – anonymously and free of charge), by e-mail or by letter.
Further information on the confidential hearing is available at www.aufarbeitskommission.de.
