Critics Slam Funds for Sexual Abuse: Focus on Victims' Support and Shutdown
Five Specialist Organizations Demand Redesign of Fund for Sexual Abuse
A group of five specialist organizations, including the WHITE RING, the German Society for the Prevention and Intervention of Child Abuse, and others, have demanded a redesign of the Fund for Sexual Abuse in a letter to the coalition committee. The organizations condemned the retroactive suspension of applications to the Fund, citing the need for a more survivor-centered and culturally specific support system.
The Fund for Sexual Abuse, part of the Supplementary Support System (EHS), provides support for victims of sexual violence. According to the organizations, the current design of the Fund is not meeting the needs of sexual abuse victims effectively.
The organizations have outlined five key demands for the future design of the Fund:
- Prioritizing the direct input and leadership of survivors in decision-making processes.
- Ensuring culturally specific and community-based intervention services are central.
- Being transparent and accountable, with clear mechanisms to track outcomes and fund usage.
- Providing sustained funding rather than short-term or retroactive grants to enable long-term support.
- Collaborating closely with organizations that have documented expertise in sexual assault intervention.
These demands reflect a call to align the Fund's structure with principles emphasized by the Office on Violence Against Women's (OVW) funding programs, which focus on strengthening community-based sexual assault services and supporting nonprofit organizations with proven expertise to serve survivors effectively.
The WHITE RING, founded in 1976, maintains a network of around 3,000 volunteer, professionally trained victim helpers and has more than 100,000 supporters organized into 18 state associations. The organization receives no public funds and finances its activities through membership fees, donations, bequests, fines imposed by courts and public prosecutors.
Franziska Drohsel from the Federal Coordination of Specialized Counseling stated that a legally anchored and low-threshold support offer like the Fund is urgently needed. Bianca Biwer, Federal Managing Director of WEISSEN RING, described the suspension of applications as shameful and a heavy blow to victims who often suffer from the consequences of abuse for decades. The WHITE RING is a competent and recognized contact for politics, justice, administration, science, and media on all questions of victim support.
The organizations demand that support be maintained and that necessary funds be provided in the federal budget. They argue that access to the Fund often proves difficult in practice and becomes an additional burden for those affected. The organizations' statement was signed by several other specialist organizations, including the Federal Association of Women's Counseling Centers and Women's Emergency Numbers, the Federal Coordination of Specialized Counseling against Sexualized Violence in Childhood and Youth, and the Federal Working Group of Feminist Organizations against Sexual Violence against Girls and Women.
- The call by the specialized organizations for a redesigned Fund for Sexual Abuse highlights a need for the incorporation of science, with research suggesting effective methods for therapies and treatments related to sexual health and trauma.
- The general news has been filled with the recent demand by five specialist organizations, including the WHITE RING, for a redesign of the Fund for Sexual Abuse, reflecting a broader political discourse centered around health-and-wellness and ensuring a survivor-centered approach to support systems.
- As sexual abuse survivors continue to search for culturally specific and community-based intervention services, the announced redesign of the Fund for Sexual Abuse offers hope for improved health-and-wellness outcomes, including sexual health.
