KNA | Some apply scout as an ideal community. But there are sexual assaults there too. According to a study, there have been several hundred cases of abuse in Germany’s largest Protestant scout association since the 1970s. Since 1973, “at least 344 people have been under the responsibility of the Association of Christian Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts (VCP) sexualized violence,” it was said on Tuesday at the presentation of the study in Kassel.
According to the authors of the social science study, 60 percent were affected by girls, almost 40 percent by boys and less than one percent by various people. Two thirds of those affected were between 13 and 17 years old when the crime began.
At least 161 people – 158 of them male and 3 female – committed sexual violence in the VCP or were accused of such acts. Almost half of these alleged perpetrators were between 18 and 24 years old at the time of the crime. Half of the crimes were committed after the year 2000.
According to the information, more than half of the crimes took place at scout camps or on trips. In over a third of the cases, the sexual violence was associated with “penetration into the body”.
79 interviews and 1,300 pages of files
It was created Study by the Institute for Practical Research and Project Consulting (IPP) in Munich and the “Dissens – Institute for Education and Research” in Berlin. It was presented at a press conference at the VCP’s federal headquarters in Kassel.
The study focused on the period from 1973, the year the VCP was founded, to 2024. According to its own information, the association has around 47,000 members. The study’s database consisted of 79 qualitative interviews with – some of them former – VCP members. In addition, around 1,300 pages of files on around 100 suspected cases of sexual violence were evaluated.
Marlene Kowalski, a member of the advisory board for dealing with sexualized violence in the VCP, said that the study sheds light on “one of the darkest chapters” in the history of the association. It shows “how children and young people who sought solidarity, trusting relationships, bonds and personal strengthening in scouting also had to experience abuse of power, attacks and sexual violence from adults, older young people or their peers.”
“Planned approach”
Two case constellations stand out: Firstly, a “clear power asymmetry in the relationship between adult VCP members, who often act as group or tribal leaders, and children and young people in their care”. “A planned approach” by the perpetrators can be seen here. Secondly, sexualized violence against young Girl Scouts by slightly older, male Scouts in the course of their first experiences of intimacy, love and friendship.
A victim of abuse explained in her statement: “We didn’t say no too quietly or too little. These people didn’t want to hear our no – no matter how loud.”
According to the researchers, the study shows that an “idealization of the sense of community” among the Boy Scouts can lead to a “collective transfiguration.” The result: power imbalances and dependencies are not recognized. It is then shocking “when the once admired group leader is identified as a perpetrator of sexual violence.”
In addition, some perpetrators were able to protect themselves from having their crimes discovered through their reputation in the church, their networks there and their self-presentation as “particularly pious”.
“Notices not taken seriously enough”
VCP federal board member Peter Keil summarized: “We overlooked information or did not take it seriously enough, did not give those affected the security to speak openly and did not recognize dangerous situations early enough.”
Two years ago he had… The interdenominational and non-partisan Association of Girl Scouts (BdP) in Germany has faced its dark past: From 1976 to 2006, there were at least 103 victims of sexual violence there, according to a study published in February 2024, also carried out by the research institutes IPP and Dissens. At the time, 36 people were accused of the crimes – most of them male.