The files therefore show a number of 1,259 accused in the area of the Protestant church and diakonia and a number of 2,225 cases of abuse. However, the research network had significantly fewer files available than, for example, those conducting the Catholic study on sexual abuse. Only one of 20 regional churches submitted comprehensive personnel files.
As a result of the study, Wazlawik criticized the negative consequences of the heterogeneous structure of the Protestant Church for victims of abuse. This leads to those affected being treated differently. “This means that this much-vaunted evangelical diversity has very concrete, often detrimental consequences for those affected.” Responsibilities are often not clearly identifiable.
In recent years, an independent research network under the umbrella of Hannover University of Applied Sciences has conducted several sub-studies to examine, among other things, the experiences of those affected, how sexual violence is dealt with in the church and the frequency of such cases.
The abuse study was launched in 2020 by a unanimous decision of the 20 regional churches. Not only pastors were considered, but also other full-time and part-time employees and volunteers. The costs of the investigation amount to around 3.6 million euros.
In addition to the Hannover University of Applied Sciences, the Research Center for Contemporary History in Hamburg, the Free University of Berlin and the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf were also involved.
