Protestant churches in Germany take an important step in the fight against sexual abuse. The country’s main Protestant churches have signed a binding agreement on how to deal with allegations of sexual abuse or violence within their institutions.
The agreement will apply to the entire Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), which includes several major Protestant denominations, as well as to Diakonie Deutschland, a major social service organization affiliated with the EKD.
The pact was signed last Wednesday by the leaders of the EKD and Diakonie, as well as the government’s independent commissioner for child sexual abuse, Kerstin Claus.
The standards were largely developed by advocates for victims of sexual abuse, according to Claus and the EKD.
It is now essential that regional churches and regional organizations in Diakonie implement this pact in a comprehensive and binding manner, as quickly as possible, and that there be no further delays,” Claus said.
This pact provides for the creation of nine independent regional commissions responsible for examining cases of abuse. These commissions will be made up of experts from academia, justice, victims’ groups, as well as churches and charitable organizations.
The commissions will begin their work in the coming months, according to the EKD.
Protestant churches have repeatedly been criticized for being slow to recognize and address sexual abuse and violence.
Kerstin Claus has already criticized the EKD for not having set up an independent structure responsible for examining requests for financial compensation from victims of sexual abuse within Protestant institutions.
The EKD has around 19 million members, making it the second largest religious group in Germany after the Catholic Church.
The Protestant Church in Germany is primarily made up of Lutheran and Reformed churches, as well as other Protestant denominations.