Beyond Digital Violence

The DGfPI e.V. and SRH met for a joint KickOff in May 2021.

In July 2021, following a tendering process, the team from DGfPI contacted the five counselling centres to inform them that they had been selected to implement the recommendations for professionally dealing with mediatised sexualised violence against children and adolescents.

Team SRH gave three presentations at the International Congress of Psychology in Prague and two presentations at the 15th Conference of the European Sociological Association in Barcelona. They also made networking connections that will be relevant for the EU quality criteria development and dissemination.

The first intervision workshop will take place in September 2021. Basically, it is about getting familiar with the recommendations for action for professionally dealing with mediatized sexualized violence against children and adolescents as well as setting up the subsequent implementation process.

Thanks to the support of Webdesign SI, the project website was launched October 31, 2021. Please share the link to our website with your network. Feedback is always welcome to byedv.hshd@srh.de.

Taking into account the topics discussed in the first intervision workshop and the needs articulated by the five participating counselling centres, the SRH team developed a reflection sheet to evaluate the first implementation phase between Intervision Workshop 1 and Intervision Workshop 2. Any questions about the data collection and evaluation instruments can be addressed to Katharina Kärgel at byedv.hshd@srh.de.

In December 2021, the recommendations for professionally dealing with mediatised sexualised violence against children and adolescents, developed empirically in the HUMAN project, were published in German under the title “Sexualised Violence and Digital Media. Reflexive Recommendations for Professional Practice” (title translated) by Springer VS.

The recommendations for action are available for free download as .pdf here.

You can order the print edition for a fee from Springer VS.

The second intervision workshop will take place in January 2022.

On February 8th, 2022, ByeDV takes part in Safer Internet Day.

The campaign is part of the national dissemination strategy of ByeDV activities. For Safer Internet Day 2022, the DGfPI team, in cooperation with the EU initiative klicksafe.de, carried out a social media campaign via Facebook and Instagram to draw the attention of a broad public to the perspective of young people and their reality of life on the Internet.

Under the motto “We need you!”, this campaign builds on the empirically developed recommendations for action of HUMAN and the experiences of the specialist counselling centres involved in the project: Young people seeking advice receive too little understanding and support in their environment when they experience digitised experiences of sexual violence. They often remain silent and do not find media-sensitive contact persons in adults, because support is often linked to criticism of their dealings with the media and their everyday media customs. They are worried about being confronted with restrictions or experience a form of open or hidden victim-blaming when parents or educators show them the risks of their media behavior. Also, their technical, emotional and social coping skills are often overestimated when digital, but also analog crisis situations have to be mastered.

The aim of the campaign is to speak from the perspective of young people and to raise awareness of their lives. Adults should be motivated to support young people when they need help based on media experiences. This requires empathy and understanding for a – from the point of view of many adults – changed living environment and youth culture. The posts therefore address adults with provocative statements by young people about their different online or offline experiences in order to make them think. Additional comments on each post are intended to explain these statements and prompt further reflection on how adults can better support young people through their actions.

Reach
The campaign was launched on 02.02.2022: A total of 21 posts were made from 2 to 14 February on Instagram www.instagram.com/dgfpi_ev/ and Facebook www.facebook.com/dgfpi.ev. Overall, the posts achieved a reach of more than 5,000 clicks (Facebook 4,434, Instagram 792).

The evaluation of the likes on Facebook shows that mainly people between the ages of 35 and 44 were reached (71.7% women / 28.3% men). On Instagram, the channel gained 181 followers (90.2% women / 9.8% men) and had the highest scores in the same age group of 35 to 44 year olds. The aim of the campaign was thus achieved, especially to sensitize and address adults for the situation of young people. The campaign had a reach beyond Germany (90.2%) to Austria (2%) and Switzerland (0.8%). Instagram also reached not only German people (70%) but also Switzerland (1.1%) and Italy (0.6%). Thus, the campaign has broadcast not only at national level but also at international level and has had a broad impact.

Safer Internet Day
Safer Internet Day is an annual campaign day that always takes place on 8 February. All those who work with children and young people are encouraged to do their part in promoting supportive relationships and respectful communities on the Internet. From discussing how to use the Internet for communication to creating positive change in online groups, the day gives the opportunity to advocate for a better Internet. In concrete terms, this means that numerous actors.B such as youth welfare organisations or schools are taking part in Safer Internet Day with online offers, presentation workshops, information events or social media campaigns.

The EU initiative klicksafe
Since 2004, klicksafe.de in Germany has been implementing the mandate of the EU Commission to convey the competent and critical use of the Internet and new media to Internet users. The EU initiative klicksafe.de aims to promote people’s online competence and to support them in dealing competently and critically with the Internet with a wide range of offers. Klicksafe.de bundles and develops relevant information and offers for safe, competent and self-determined Internet use. Target groups are people who support children and young people in developing their Internet skills – from parents and teachers to multipliers. The independent information portal www.klicksafe.de publishes a variety of up-to-date information, practical tips and teaching material on digital services and topics. The fields of action also include the implementation of comprehensive campaigns and the development of concepts for nationwide qualification measures for teachers and specialists. Training courses for children, young people, parents, teachers and specialists on the opportunities and risks of the Internet are also supported. In addition, klicksafe networks initiatives and actors in Germany and Europe to promote media literacy on the Internet. Klicksafe.de is the national German awareness centre, and is funded by the CEF Telecom Programme of the European Union. Since 2008, klicksafe has also been coordinating the Safer Internet Centre DE, which includes the Internet hotlines of eco, FSM and jugendschutz.net as well as the helpline number against grief.

Further information on Safer Internet Day an be gathered from its official website.

Images for Prevention

Press Release

As part of ByeDV’s International Strategy, Team SRH will attend the Quebec City Congress of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) in March 2022 and present 5 papers.

The third intervision workshop will take place in April 2022. The ByeDV team is eager to hear how each of the counselling centres is doing since the last workshop.

The fourth intervision workshop will take place in September 2022. As the end of the project approaches, the question on everyone’s mind is: how is the implementation process progressing?

Save the Date:

This specialist forum addresses the urgent problem facing many specialists from counseling centers and youth welfare, such as how digital representations of sexualized violence can be dealt with in accordance with the law. The legal situation is clear, but in counseling practice there are often uncertainties of how to move forward, particularly after the tightening of the law § 184 StGB (dissemination of pornographic content) in 2021.

The discussion with experts from the areas of public prosecution, youth media protection, youth welfare, Independent Commissioner for Questions of Child Sexual Abuse (UBSKM), Specialist Counseling Centers
and those affected will discuss responsibilities and working methods.

Time: 25.10.2022, 9:00 – 12:30

Format: Webinar via Zoom (free)

Moderation: Julia von Weiler (Innocence in Danger e.V.)

Podium: Gesa Bertels (Landesjugendamt Münster), Julia Hiller (UBSKM), Dorina Kolbe (Betroffenenrat), Tina Langer (Zentral- und Ansprechstelle Cybercrime NRW), Jasmin Wahl (Jugendschutz.net) Registration will be available on the websites for ByeDV and DGfPI.

The fifth and final intervision workshop will take place in January 2023. The ByeDV team along with the five counselling centres will review the results of the implementation process to determine quality criteria for the future use of the recommendations when dealing with mediatised sexualised violence against children and adolescents.

The project team looks forward to the opportunity to host a dialogue on mediatised sexualised violence and the implementation of the recommendations with colleagues from near and far as part of the final symposium of the project, likely to be held in Heidelberg. Details to follow.