The public has been shaken again and again by reports of abuse scandals and sexualized violence against children. Such violence can take a wide variety of forms, ranging from the commercial darknet and child pornography images to institutionally shielded violence in churches and educational or sports facilities, to individual violence within families and in the child=s immediate social context. Officially, 16,996 cases of sexual abuse against children were recorded in Germany in 2020, but it is assumed that the number of unreported cases is around 340,000. How is this alarming number of tragic individual stories to be understood against the background of a society that is committed to freedom and human dignity? The authors examine this sad phenomenon from various viewpoints and in the process bring us closer to an incomprehensible phenomenon& to which we must nevertheless not close our eyes.

Dr. Pamela Kerschke-Risch is a sociologist and criminologist. She teaches and carries out research at the University of Hamburg.