GERMANY
Deutsche Welle
The Catholic Church in Germany has closed its hotline for victims of sexual abuse due to lack of use. Critics say the church is not doing enough to counter this ongoing problem.
For two and a half years, the counseling service run by the Catholic Church was set up as a first point of contact for victims of abuse and their relatives.
Today, few people call the number, Matthias Kopp, spokesman for the German Bishops’ Conference, told Deutsche Welle. He said the telephone helpline had fulfilled its purpose and would be turned off at the end of 2012.
Incidents of abuse
Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig: An ‘important first step’ against abuse is being taken away
Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig doesn’t approve of this decision. He is the independent special representative for sexual abuse of minors, appointed by the German government. Telephone helplines are “important for the first step towards finding help,” he said in an interview with German public television.
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