Kerstin Claus, Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues, visits IADC

The Institute of Anthropology (IADC) had the honor of welcoming Mrs. Kerstin Claus, Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues (UBSKM) to our office at Villa Malta on March 6-7, 2024. 

Mrs. Claus participated in a meeting with Fr. Hans Zollner SJ and members of the IADC as well as Prof. Jörg M. Fegert and his team from Ulm University’s Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Mrs. Claus was in Rome for meetings with Dr. Bernhard Kotsch, German ambassador to the Holy See, and other EU ambassadors to talk about the Safeguarding and care for victims of abuse at the international political level. 

Serving as the Independent Commissioner since 2022, Mrs. Claus is responsible, on behalf of the German Federal Government, for the concerns of survivors and has been active for many years in a full-time and voluntary capacity combating sexual violence against children and adolescents.

“I am grateful for this visit to the IADC. It is important to create networks for a more effective political decision-making process in favor of child safeguarding on a European level,” Mrs. Claus said. 

“It is my hope that on a European-wide level, the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy at Ulm University Hospital and the the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, can contribute in bringing about important results that are essential for political players involved in the promotion of Safeguarding policies,” Prof. Fegert said. 

“Our own IADC global research network, within the Catholic Church and beyond, offers a platform for further dissemination of best practices and contributes in validating input from Europe in different parts of the world,” Father Hans Zollner said.