Sexual abuse of children in East Germany 'didn't fit the socialist, happy family model'
Child abuse was even more a taboo in the former GDR than in West Germany, an independent committee has found. The "high degree of secrecy" left victims in a state of "extreme helplessness" from which many still suffer.
Children playing music in a Leipzig street parade, 1960 (picture-alliance/dpa-Zentralbild/OPB-Mai Fotothek Leipzig)
The smiling child held in the arms of its parents, the working mother in her headscarf, the father still in his overalls: These were the wholesome images on which the former East Germany prided itself, recognizable from countless placards and displays of propaganda. But, for decades, a taboo that didn't fulfill this happy family model remained unspoken.
Sexual abuse of children in the GDR didn't fit in with the image of the "wholesome socialist society," and the issue was thus much more of a taboo than in the West. That was the conclusion of a case study presented in Berlin on Wednesday by Germany's independent commission for accounting sexual child abuse.
East German propaganda placard
(Stiftung Haus der Geschichte)
"We will live better - through our plan": The 'happy family model' of socialist former East Germany
'High degree of secrecy'
The analysis, based on 75 confidential hearings and 27 reports from people affected by child abuse in former East Germany, found that both in the family home and in the public sphere, discourse about sexual violence was nonexistent.
The GDR's socialist political power system, and the repressive state education system that shaped the country’s 41-year existence until its downfall in 1990, also played a prominent role in the cover-up of child abuse.
The ideological educational mission in the GDR's infamous children's care homes and "Jugendwerkhöfe" (JWH), centers for children who were deemed to have behavioral problems, also allowed perpetrators free rein and resulted in the "extreme helplessness" of victims. "Abuse in the homes could be carried out, covered up and normalized," the report said.
'The worst time of my life'
Corinna Thalheim, CEO of the initiative "Abuse in GDR homes," was a victim of sexual abuse in the 1980s. She was 16 years old.
"That was the worst time of my life," she said. "Two years of violence and sexual abuse on the whim of the director."
After leaving the behavioral center she didn’t dare to tell her family about the experience. It was the "high degree of secrecy," synonymous with the repressive "Stasi" (secret police) mentality, which made it impossible for victims to talk about sexual violence during their childhood, the report said.
"I was already stigmatized anyway and I was considered a criminal in the village because I’d been sent to the JWH."
'I was broken'
The study also found that some victims were abused in multiple places. Children who developed unusual behavior due to sexual abuse by family members, for example, were often sent to a care home and subjected once again to sexual violence.
Renate Viehrig-Seger put herself in the hands of youth welfare after she was sexually abused by her father, but was soon sent home. After finally running away, she landed at the JWH, where she was abused on her birthday by the leader of the center.
"After that, I was broken," she said. It was only two years ago that she was able to open up about the abuse for the first time.
GDR kindergarten. Not every childhood in former Eastern Germany was a happy one
Children in care homes and centers were "doubly trapped," the case study said. At best, a successful escape led to the former East German border.
"You could not escape the suffering," said scientist Beate Mitzscherlich, one of the authors.
'Extreme helplessness'
Victims who participated in the case study say they still struggle to talk about their life in the GDR or about the sexual abuse they had suffered. Lack of funding has also hindered psychological support.
Making matters worse, under Germany's Victims Compensation Act, applications for benefits to finance support can generally only be made for cases of abuse that took place after German reunification. Thus, those who suffered abuse during the period of the GDR find themselves unable to access or finance critical resources. Moreover, in the meantime, the fund for children who were in care homes during the GDR has also closed.
"We fall through every category," Thalheim said. "We urgently need support."
Responding to the findings, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives demanded that the "Sexual Abuse Fund," which finances support for victims, be extended and its structure changed.
"The current processing time of 26 months must be shortened by means of more trained staff and faster procedures," said spokesperson for the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group Nadine Schön. "It is unreasonable that people who were sexually abused during their childhood have to wait so long for support."
More than 1,000 claims of child sexual abuse
in custody, UK inquiry reveals
Chair of inquiry ‘deeply disturbed’ by allegations
from young offender institutions
Robert Booth and Eric Allison
Children in custody are still not safe from sexual abuse after more than 1,000 attacks were alleged from 2009 to 2017, a statutory inquiry has found.
Prof Alexis Jay, the chairwoman of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, said on Thursday she was deeply disturbed by what the inquiry found as it published a report that described the scale of alleged abuse in young offender institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs) as “shockingly high”.
During the inquiry it was alleged that a female member of staff masturbated children at Medway STC in 2015; and that in 2014, members of staff at Rainsbrook STC allowed two young people to go into a room together, knowing that one was going to defecate on the other’s face.
The inquiry said the report included many other recent examples, often involving allegations of staff inappropriately touching detainees during body searches or instances of restraint. It added that many more complaints of child sexual abuse in custody had been made than revealed in official figures, including those published by HMs Inspectorate of Prisons.
It said there were 1,070 incidents of alleged sexual abuse in YOIs and STCs reported from 2009 to 2017.
“This number is shockingly high, given that there has been a significant drop in numbers of detained children over that time,” the report said. “The current population is around 900.”
Only nine alleged incidents resulted in criminal charges, of which four resulted in convictions.
The inquiry found that the institutions had been “very poorly resourced” and that staff turnover was running at unacceptably high levels in YOIs and in STCs, “with low morale and inadequate training, including safeguarding training”.
“There has been a shocking decline in safety in the secure estate in recent years,” it said. “This has been caused by management instability and staffing losses. There is some evidence that these have been linked to budget cuts … There is little doubt that YOIs and STCs were in crisis by the end of the inquiry’s investigation period.”
Evidence from adults who were sexually abused while in custodial institutions as children has been also included in the report.
“The harrowing accounts of non-recent child sexual abuse within custodial institutions were some of the worst cases this inquiry has heard,” said Jay.
One witness said that when he was 11 he was sexually assaulted by two members of staff at the same time and another witness said he was raped and sexually assaulted 35 times by four members of staff and a former pupil at Stanhope Castle, an approved school. On several occasions he was choked unconscious.
“But I am also deeply disturbed by the continuing problem of child sexual abuse in these institutions over the last decade,” Jay said. “It is clear these children, who are some of the most vulnerable in society, are still at risk of sexual abuse. I hope our report and recommendations can help protect them better in future.”
The number of children in custody has declined since mid-2008, from more than 3,000 to about 900 at any one time.
The report looked at the alleged sexual abuse and exploitation of children held in secure units since 2009, including at Feltham and Werrington YOIs, Medway and Rainsbrook STCs and Vinney Green and Aycliffe secure children’s homes.
The inquiry is now calling on the Department for Education and the Youth Custody Service to launch a full review of whether placing children in secure homes increases the risk of sexual abuse. It also wants the Ministry of Justice to ban the use of “pain compliance techniques”, which includes methods such as bending of a child’s thumbs and wrists. It said this amounted to child abuse but its use had been recorded 119 recorded times from March 2016 to March 2017 alone.
The justice minister Edward Argar said details in the report were “shocking” and pledged to urgently consider the findings. “We have recognised the need for fundamental reform of youth custody to ensure that the safety, welfare and rehabilitation of young people are prioritised across all aspects of the system,” he said.
“As part of this we are already conducting an urgent review into safeguarding in the youth estate, are rolling out new specialist training for staff and have commissioned an independent review of pain inducing restraint techniques. In addition, we increased frontline Youth Custody Service staff by over a third in 2018 and are completely changing our approach by investing in Secure Schools that will put education at heart of youth custody.
Ministers have commissioned Charlie Taylor, chairman of the youth justice board for England and Wales, to undertake an independent review of pain-inducing restraint techniques to conclude this summer.
Concerns about abuse in the institutions has been growing for several years. In February 2016, the Guardian revealed that serious allegations of abuse and bullying by staff at Medway had been reported by a whistleblower, Nathan Ward, more than a decade before.
G4S, which ran Medway, was stripped of the contract. In 2014, G4S, Serco and the Youth Justice Board paid out a combined figure of almost £100,000 in damages to 14 children who had been abused at STCs between 2004 and 2008 and other similar civil actions are pending.
In January this year, a report into the alleged abuse of children at Medway found that a series of failings led to “erratic and ineffective” monitoring of investigations into the claims.
A serious case review criticised a contract between the Youth Justice Board and Barnado’s, saying the contract “expressly did not allow” the charity, which was acting as an independent advocate for children at Medway, to refer concerns about child protection to the local authority responsible for their welfare.
Halifax, UK grooming gang members lose sentence appeal
Those convicted of child sex offences including rape, grooming and trafficking during three separate trials at Leeds Crown Court in 2016
Six members of a gang jailed for grooming and sexually abusing teenage girls in Halifax have failed in their bid to reduce their sentences. They were among men convicted at Leeds Crown Court in 2016.
Appeals were lodged by Hedar Ali, Haider Ali, Khalid Zaman, Mohammed Ramzan, Tahir Mahmood, and Taukeer Butt.
One girl was said to have been passed around like a "sex toy" between 2009 and 2011.
A Court of Appeal judge said her ordeal "transcends the imagination of most people".
'Serial sexual plaything'
Dismissing the appeal bids, Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Lavender in Sheffield, said a girl - referred to as A and who was 13 when the abuse began - was "used as a serial sexual plaything by these appellants and many others" who plied her with drink and drugs.
"It is difficult to imagine a child being more damaged by the sexual abuse to which A was exposed," he said.
All of the men were sentenced for their part in the sexual exploitation of the girl and another teenager during four separate trials.
But arguing the case for the six men, their barristers said while they accepted A had suffered extreme psychological harm, the trial judge had exaggerated their roles in creating that harm.
Lord Burnett said the court rejected that argument in all cases.
He said the "extreme vulnerability of A in the context of her being passed around from pillar to post and used as a sex toy by these and other men" was a key reason the trial judge placed the offending in the highest category for sentencing purposes.
The gang
Hedar Ali, 36, of Bradford, was jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of two counts of rape and two counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation
Haider Ali, 41, of Halifax, sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexual activity with a child and causing a person to engage in sexual activity
Khalid Zaman, 38, of Bradford, jailed for 17-and-a-half years after being convicted of two counts of rape and supplying class B drugs. He denied all the charges
Mohammed Ramzan, 35, of Bradford, jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of rape
Haaris Ahmed, 32, of Halifax, sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison after he was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child and with the supply of class B drugs
Tahir Mahmood, 43, of Halifax, jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child and sexual assault.
Taukeer Butt, 31, of Halifax, jailed for 10 years after he was found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child
Amaar Ali Ditta, 27, of Halifax, sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child
Azeem Subhani, 25, of Halifax, jailed for nine years after being found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child
Talib Saddiq, 31, of Halifax, jailed for eight years after he was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child.
Sikander Malik, 31, of Halifax, jailed for seven years after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child
Mohammed Ali Ahmed, 43, of Halifax, jailed for six-and-a-half years after being found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child
Aftab Hussain, 37, of Halifax, jailed for six years after pleading guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child last September
Mansoor Akhtar, 25, of Huddersfield, was found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child but admitted to supplying Class B drugs. He was jailed for six years
Sikander Ishaq, 31, of Halifax, sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child
Fasil Mahmood, 37, of Halifax, was jailed for 10 months after he was found guilty of supplying class B drugs
Is it possible the government will ever admit that there is an extreme problem with Pakistani Muslim men horribly abusing very young British girls?
It's not really possible to fix the problem when they won't even admit there is one, even when it is so blatantly obvious.
Accused child sex offender Malka Leifer 'unfit' for extradition, court told
She's unfit for lot of things, but not extradition. This never-ending extradition case is utterly absurd and makes a serious mockery of Israel's justice system. Her victims get revictimized after every one of the 47 hearings in the past year. It's time for justice to occur, and it certainly hasn't happened yet.
By Tessa Fox
Jerusalem: Accused child sex offender Malka Leifer is not fit to be extradited to Australia to face charges, a defence psychiatrist has told a Jerusalem court.
Dr Gregory Katz, who works in Jerusalem's Kfar Shaul Mental Health Centre, was cross-examined on Wednesday.
Melbourne sisters Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer, who have been at the forefront of a campaign to have Leifer sent back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse and rape, travelled to Israel for the closed hearing in the Jerusalem District Court.
The charges stem from Leifer's time as principal of the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel School in Elsternwick in Melbourne's south-east.
Now in the 47th hearing since Leifer was arrested in Israel last February, the court continued to hear statements on her mental health and capacity to be extradited.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Erlich stressed how difficult it was to sit in the room with Leifer and her supporters.
Sisters (left to right) Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper. CREDIT:JOE ARMAO
"It was hard, it was hard to sit there behind her family who are hoping for a very different outcome than we are," Erlich said.
"It was hard to sit there watching them hold Jewish objects, praying to a God and we're wondering what God they're praying to that protects abusers.
"It was hard to hear them talking about her mental health. What about our mental health? This has gone on for so long, we just want this to end."
Erlich stressed that she and other survivors of Leifer's alleged abuse, had no idea who to trust any more.
Manny Waks, the chief executive of Kol V'oz, an organisation to prevent sexual abuse in the Jewish community, expressed his support to Erlich and her sisters. "My thoughts are with the courageous sisters - Nicole, Dassi and Elly - who travelled especially for this hearing," Waks said.
"Hopefully this entire saga will soon come to a conclusion with Leifer being put back on a plane to Australia to finally face justice."
Erlich reiterated that she and her sisters were not planning to give up. "We'll continue fighting to make sure Malka Leifer is not able to hurt anybody else," she said. "We're doing this for every victim that goes through court processes and gives up because of how difficult and triggering it is."
God bless you! It's a shame you have to fight the Israeli government and courts to get justice.
The cross-examination of defence psychiatrists will continue next week.
