Even as a moral authority, churches are not free from social conditions of abuse of power and violence

Wuppertal social pedagogue Fabian Kessl, a member of the team of experts of the broad-based ForuM study on sexualised violence and other forms of abuse in the Protestant Church of Germany and the Diakonie says: "The church is still very much at the beginning when it comes to coming to terms with abuse."

An overarching abuse study for the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) and Diakonie by the independent research organisation ForuM was presented to the public in January. The study consists of six topic-related sub-projects, was commissioned by the EKD in 2020 and co-financed with 3.6 million euros.

Sexualised violence in the church sector

Sexualised violence in the Christian churches has long been a concern for society. There is no end to the reports. The most recent example is the discovery of children's bodies in a re-education camp in Canada. Public pressure on the churches is increasing, but the process of coming to terms with this is only slowly getting underway. "Since 2010, we have had a situation in Germany and internationally where the topic of sexualised violence is being discussed publicly, especially in relation to institutionalised contexts," says Kessl. This has a lot to do with the fact that those affected have raised their voices even more clearly and that there has also been a public, and therefore media representatives, who have heard these voices. Since then, people have repeatedly asked themselves why assaults, violence and abuse in schools, boarding schools, youth welfare centres, but also in the health sector, in sport, in clubs, etc. are not prevented. "We have to realise that in this context, churches are simply another social organisation in which abuse of power occurs," explains the researcher, "i.e. churches and church organisations are just as confronted with the problem of assault and violence as all other organisations in society. And this is perhaps the central finding of both the two studies on the Catholic and now our study on the Protestant sector: despite their position as a moral authority, the Christian churches are not free from social conditions that are associated with the abuse of power and violence."

Problem with finding the truth?

In the Archdiocese of Cologne, Cardinal Wölki rejected an initial reappraisal study for the Catholic Church and commissioned a new one, which was recently published. The result was unsatisfactory, he even received a visit from Vatican representatives sent by Pope Francis and withdrew from the public eye for six months. The rest is still silence today.

"We can't directly compare the situation in the Catholic Church, especially in a specific diocese, with that in the Protestant Church - the design of our study doesn't allow for that," says Kessl. But we can name structural logics, i.e. conditions for sexualised violence and conditions that enable or prevent it. These are just as prevalent in large parts of the church and social welfare organisations as they are in other areas of society. "However, I believe that the churches - and here we can speak of both - find it particularly difficult to deal with the topic due to the public attribution and their self-image of being a moral authority."

Interdisciplinary team of experts

The Protestant Church in Germany contributed 3.6 million euros to the broad-based study ForuM (Research on the investigation of sexualised violence and other forms of abuse in the Protestant Church and Diaconia in Germany) on sexualised violence and other forms of abuse in the EKD and Diaconia. The team of experts was interdisciplinary. Kessl explains his role as a researcher in the field of social pedagogy as follows: "In social pedagogical research, we are particularly interested in the connection between social conditions and individual life plans. When this leads to ruptures and contradictions, social education and social work programmes are required. The topic of violence, sexualised violence, has also become increasingly present in our fields over the past 10-15 years. I work primarily in the field of youth welfare, as part of social pedagogy, and we are increasingly seeing that the topic of violence is moving more and more onto the agenda under the heading of child protection, for example." The study was put out to tender in 2019 and Kessl, together with his colleague Martin Wazlawik from Hanover, argued in favour of setting up an interdisciplinary research group to shed light on the topic from many different perspectives. "Social pedagogy is also involved because this context of the church is very often about socio-pedagogical constellations. Think of the daycare centres, youth work, which also includes confirmation classes, or other open offers. Diakonie is one of the largest employers of social pedagogues and social workers in the country. In this respect, we considered it necessary to take a systematic look at this."

Study draws on the expertise of those affected

The element of victim participation is a very convincing factor in the study, according to a press article. Although the study only began in 2021, Kessl explains, research on the topic of violence has been intensively promoted since 2010, meaning that there has already been a lot of contact with those affected. "Those affected who came forward were also involved in all sub-projects of the study. They advised us on the selection of cases, but also on the interpretation and the results, which we repeatedly asked them to comment on." The cooperation of those affected was an immense help for the researchers because they were always able to contribute their perspective, expertise and competence.

Independent research

The team of experts from the ForuM research network acted independently, as it was contractually agreed that the researchers would be responsible for the results and therefore also for the final report. Kessl comments: "We were certainly reacting to the experience that you can run the risk with commissioned research that the other party will say at some point, no, we don't want that in the final report. The report should also not disappear into the famous drawer." The agreement reached was also in the interests of both sides: for the scientists as well as the Protestant Church and Diakonie. Not only did it allow the team of experts to conduct their research without constantly having scissors in their heads, but it also gave the Protestant Church independent research results that it could now work with.

The everyday nature of violence

"A key finding of this study is certainly the commonplace nature of violence," explains Kessl, "we need to understand that sexualised violence is something that we can encounter anywhere." Statistically, there are one or two affected children in every school class alone, he continues, and therefore it would have been clear from the outset that there were also many victims in the Protestant Church. "Nevertheless, we can't say that much about the numbers, because that was one of the problems, that we didn't get the access to the files that was actually agreed." Another result of the study concerns the constellation of offences. "Even in the Protestant sector, we can't say that a parsonage or a youth centre is particularly affected. Rather, we found reports of violence in all areas: in daycare centres, in confirmation classes, in youth work, in parsonages, between adults and between children. The result is that there is no specific Protestant constellation for violence and assaults."

Another key finding is the inconceivability, explains the researcher, i.e. the realisation that people cannot imagine violent assaults in their own area and that this quickly leads to defensive behaviour when confronted with reports. "Church representatives endeavour to bring the dispute to a conclusion as quickly as possible. Then, for example, criminal decisions are quickly communicated as: 'Oh, there was nothing wrong: Oh, there was nothing. But this is a huge misunderstanding, because we know that sexualised violence often refers to a constellation that can neither be clarified quickly nor always clearly. Rather, we are dealing with great uncertainty. The fact that people are often only able to talk about their experiences of violence many years later often makes it difficult to clarify things under criminal law or to clarify them in such a way that they are forensically clear." However, this does not mean that there is nothing to work through.

Similarly, the self-image of a pastor or a daycare centre, for example, of being progressive and modern, can in some cases create a blockade and lead to people no longer looking closely, according to the motto: "In a Protestant daycare centre with modern play concepts, there can't be violence among children, or a church musician sexually harassing a female pastor can't happen in our equal community!"

Researchers find their own position on the topic

"Research topics don't leave you cold," says Kessl, "and not a topic like this in particular. But if you do research in social pedagogy and social policy, then you're no stranger to the stresses and struggles of people in stressful life situations. At the same time, you always have to realise that the real burden is not on us researchers, but on those affected, who can't even decide to deal with the issue. Those affected have to deal with this issue, often for the rest of their lives. This became very clear to us again and again because we were always intensively supported and advised by those affected during this study." For Kessl, the central challenge for the scientists is the question: How do we deal with the issue? It is possible to deal with stress, there is support and dialogue. But you have to find your own position. He feels an obligation as a scientist. "I want society to be educated about the logic behind such constellations of violence. I do this because I believe that science can contribute to change."

Recommendations for action

The Federal Government Commissioner for Abuse, Kerstin Claus, has criticised the handling of cases of sexualised violence in the Protestant Church in August 2023 as inadequate. "There are still regional regulations that require those affected who apply for recognition payments to not only make the offences plausible, but also to prove institutional failure," she told the Düsseldorfer 'Rheinische Post'. The study also offers initial recommendations for action from the team of experts, according to Kessl: "We have formulated recommendations for action, but they are not as detailed as the recommendations of a parliamentary commission of enquiry." This has to do with the fact that the team looked at the entire EKD with twenty regional churches and there are of course extreme differences between the regional churches as well as within the regional churches. One of these recommendations was that the Protestant Church should seek external support at various levels. For example, some of those affected would no longer want to be in contact with the church, which would require access to non-church support structures. The church is also dependent on support in terms of qualifications, bearing in mind that it has only been explicitly addressing the issue since around 2018. In this respect, there is simply a lack of experience and knowledge. And last but not least, the independence of the recognition committees that decide on compensation payments at regional church level must be guaranteed. It is also important to provide them with sustainable standards across the regional churches. In addition, an independent ombudsman's office is needed as a point of contact for those affected.

For Kessl, one thing is particularly important in all recommendations: "It must be ensured in all disputes that those affected are structurally involved, systematically involved and not at the discretion of the church and diaconia, i.e. the participation process must be designed in such a way that even if those affected formulate strenuous demands from the church's point of view, if they follow up and remain persistent, the participation process is guaranteed at all levels."

The practice of reappraisal

Prof. Dr. Martin Wazlawik from Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, coordinator and spokesperson for the research network, says: "The Protestant church and social welfare organisations are only just beginning to come to terms with sexualised violence. This process must begin now, otherwise the findings and recommendations of this study will not go beyond paper status. "In our sub-project, which was realised here at the University of Wuppertal together with the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, we looked at the practice of coming to terms with sexualised violence itself," says Kessl. "We had the hypothesis that cases had already been dealt with after 2010. But we couldn't find that at all. In the cases - we investigated Protestant day care centres and parishes - we found that in only one parish case were the first steps taken to come to terms with the abuse. In all other cases, this has not even happened yet. At this level alone, the empirical findings are clear: the church is still very much at the beginning." What needs to happen now is a debate in the church and diaconia, with and in society. "This means a comprehensive debate that has theological and pedagogical dimensions. What reappraisal means, how it must be implemented, must be explained from regional church to regional church, from church district to church district, from congregation to congregation, from daycare centre to daycare centre, etc.," summarises Kessl. "We researchers can now offer our expertise. But the onus is now on the churches and social welfare organisations."

Uwe Blass

Fabian Kessl studied educational science and political science at the University of Heidelberg and received his doctorate from the Faculty of Education at Bielefeld University in 2004. After ten years as a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, he has been teaching as a professor of "Social Pedagogy with a focus on socio-political foundations" in the school of human and social sciences at the University of Wuppertal since 2018.