Support for Crime Victims
October 10, 2006
"Thirty years of the White Ring mean 30 years of civic engagement for the victims of crime and violence," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday at a celebration in the German parliament.
"That is 30 years of very concrete help by the people for the people that have unexpectedly become victims of violence," Merkel said.
Merkel praised the organization for the "practical, concrete, quick and unbureaucratic help" which they offered to victims and their families.
"Every act of violence in Germany is one too many," she said. "For a culture of safety, each and every person bears a part of the responsibility."
Helping the victims
More than 700,000 men, women and children fall victim to acts of violence in Germany every year, yet only 10 percent of eligible crime victims ever file an application under Germany's Crime Victims Compensation Act.
As a network of volunteer-run advice centers for crime victims, the White Ring is there to help the victims and advise them, both legally and psychologically, on how to deal with their situation.
"I talk to them on the phone," said Jörg Beck, who works for the WR in Bonn. "I ask them for their age, profession, address and telephone number. And I ask, without going into detail, what has actually happened."
Violence is a part of everyday life
Beck offers advice to the people in and around Bonn who have been assaulted, robbed or cheated.
"Typically, the cases involve bodily harm, domestic violence and family conflicts, but also property offences or property questions," Beck said.
Beck and his colleagues recommend lawyers and therapeutic help to the victims quickly and, most importantly, avoiding bureaucratic hurdles. If a stalking victim, for example, wants to move to another city, the WR pays for their moving expenses.
The organization offers financial aid to some 15,000 people per year. Most of those seeking help come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
"There are also cases in which we help the victims in their dealings with the authorities," Beck said. "In this respect, we don't offer financial, but rather non-material assistance. That is as important."
Civic engagement
What started off in 1976 as an association with 17 members -- police presidents, the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office and the television presenter Eduard Zimmermann -- is nowadays an organization with 2,700 volunteers working at 400 advice centers around the country.
Around 65,000 people all over Germany pay membership subscriptions in order to help the organization finance its activities.
"I find that it is more important to help those who are in need than to worry about having the grass in your garden mowed all the time," said physicist and IBM employee Dietrich Gaude, 67, who joined the WR as a volunteer three years ago.
Gaude -- like all volunteers -- works from his home. When the phone rings, he sometimes simply needs to pick up and listen. Time and again, however, he needs to get up and pay the victims a visit. What he sees and hears during these visits is often heart-wrenching.
"There was this case of a young woman who got beat up at her job," Gaude said. "She was so traumatized that she couldn't go back to work."
"I put her in touch with a psychotherapist, took her to see her and other doctors on several occasions, because, after she was assaulted, she couldn't do it on her own. The White Ring also placed some money at her disposal," he said.
Advocating victims' interests
Every year, the WR celebrates March 22 as Crime Victims Day by drawing the attention of the media and the general public to the victims and their problems.
The WR has also advocated civic courage through their "Don't bury your head in the sand" campaign, by appealing to citizens' sense of responsibility to step in and help the victims of crime.
"Our organization serves as an example to our sister organizations in other countries," Beck said. "We do what in many areas would actually be the task of the state. The state, however, doesn't have the time, the means or the personnel for it."