The chairwoman of the "Round Table on Home Education," Antje Vollmer, has expressed skepticism about a comparable instrument for the sexual abuse of children. "I would be very careful about that," she said Thursday in Berlin. She advises against setting up a round table for every new victim perspective that arises.
"The current proposal corresponds to the desire of politicians to propose something at all, but is also an expression of helplessness. In complex, long-ago processes, the Round Table can hardly be a judge; it can only uphold a vision of justice and thus hopefully contribute to pacification," said Vollmer. At the same time, she warned against the consequences of charged emotionalism in the media. Unfulfillable expectation With growing time distance to the concrete case of sexual abuse, she fears with a round table "that it raises expectations for the clarification of the crime, which it can not fulfill," said Vollmer. Sexual abuse also comes up at "round table on home education". However, the unity of the group, the many years of experience of all those involved with the topic and the trust that has grown make it easier to talk about it. However, the Round Table can be neither a court, nor a specialist, nor an accompanying psychologist in such cases. Its task is to clarify for society what it can still do today for those who have been harmed. Vollmer spoke out in favor of consistently using the criminal or civil law options for prosecution or compensation in cases of sexual abuse. Moreover, he says, experience at the "round table on home education" shows her that victims of such crimes or assaults should not be left alone. "These people, with their sense of powerlessness or their trauma, must not be allowed to walk into the void," the former Bundestag vice president said. "They must find a response. This is about dealing with a life break."After more than 120 cases of violence and sexual abuse in Catholic schools came to light, Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) is pushing for a round table. Vollmer urged to see the limits of what a roundtable can do. The handling of the home ie shows that such discussion processes should be "as close as possible to the scene of the event". In the case of crimes committed long ago, this could also mean that a present-day principal or bishop would sit down for an intensive discussion with a victim. Openly confronting perpetrators In her experience, financial ies are occasionally involved, Vollmer said. The focus on compensation ies, however, comes from the outside. Ideally, those who have inflicted injuries on others should be available for discussion, "so that they can be confronted openly, so that they have to answer concretely. The "Round Table on Home Education" set up by the Bundestag was constituted in February 2009 under Vollmer's chairmanship. It deals with the handling of up to 800.000 institutionalized children in the early Federal Republic of Germany. The panel aims to complete its work by year's end, according to an interim report presented in January.