ForuM-Studie

The ForuM study was a 2024 German research report on sexualized violence and other forms of abuse in the Protestant Church in Germany and associated welfare institutions, especially the Diakonie. Its full title was Research on the processing of sexualized violence and other forms of abuse in the Protestant Church and Diakonia in Germany. The study was published on 25 January 2024.[1]

Background

The study was commissioned in 2020 and carried out by an interdisciplinary research network involving several academic institutions.[1] According to the Associated Press, it was financed with about €3.6 million by the Evangelical Church in Germany.[2] The publication of the report was widely regarded as the first broad nationwide investigation into abuse in Germany's Protestant churches comparable in scale to earlier scrutiny of the Catholic Church.[3]

Methodology

The study examined the period from 1946 to 2020.[4] Researchers evaluated disciplinary files, personnel-related material and other institutional records from regional Protestant churches and Diakonie organizations.[2][4] However, the research team stated that access to records was incomplete. According to Deutschlandfunk, not all regional churches supplied the requested material in full, researchers often received disciplinary files rather than complete personnel files, and in some cases churches could not rule out that files had been destroyed.[4]

Because of these limitations, the researchers described the documented figures as minimum figures rather than a complete count.[4][2] Deutschlandfunk reported that approximately 4,300 disciplinary files, around 780 personnel files and about 1,320 additional records were reviewed.[4]

Findings

The study documented at least 2,225 affected persons and 1,259 accused perpetrators associated with Protestant church institutions in Germany.[3][2] Reuters reported that more than half of the identified victims were under the age of 14 at the time of the abuse, and that more than a quarter of the accused were parish clergy.[3]

The researchers also estimated that the actual scale was substantially higher. According to Deutschlandfunk, the study estimated that about 9,355 children and adolescents were abused between 1946 and 2020 and that the total number of accused persons may have been close to 3,500.[4] The Associated Press likewise reported that, because of incomplete access to files, the real number of perpetrators could be as high as 3,500.[2]

The report argued that abuse in Protestant institutions should not be understood solely as a matter of individual misconduct, but also in relation to structural conditions and institutional failures in dealing with complaints and accountability.[1][2]

Reception

The findings received extensive media coverage in Germany and internationally.[3][2] Public reporting highlighted both the documented minimum number of victims and the possibility that the real scale of abuse was much greater because of incomplete archival access.[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c "ForuM Research Network presents Research Findings on Sexualised Violence in Protestant Churches". Fachhochschule Potsdam. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Report on sex abuse in Germany's Protestant Church documents at least 2,225 victims". Associated Press. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d "Over 2000 people abused in German Protestant Church, study finds". Reuters. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Studie offenbart Missbrauch in der evangelischen Kirche". Deutschlandfunk. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
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