Kerstin Claus, the independent federal commissioner against sexual abuse of children and adolescents (UBSKM), has urged all kindergartens and schools-both publicly and privately run-to fulfil their reporting obligations regarding sexualised violence within their premises. “I am talking about state responsibility” she told the Friday edition of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Claus called for all student records to be kept until the first centennial anniversary and urged every German state to enshrine mandatory school protection plans into law. “I now expect a consistent reckoning with the past and a secure future” she added.
So far, statutory provisions exist in Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg‑Western Pomerania, North Rhine‑Westphalia, Saarland, and Schleswig‑Holstein. In Baden‑Württemberg, Lower Saxony, Rhineland‑Palatinate, and Thuringia, schools are required only to develop their own protection concepts. Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Saxony, and Saxony‑Anhalt have no statutory obligation to establish such plans.
In 2025 the accident insurance fund of North Rhine‑Westphalia received a total of 138 reports from schools, kindergartens, and vocational schools-a number that is proportionate to the roughly 5,400 schools in the state. Of those allegations, 79 cases of sexualised violence were recognized as workplace accidents, 25 were still pending review, and 34 did not meet the legal criteria for recognition. The accident insurance offices provide rehabilitation services and, in certain severe cases, temporary or permanent pensions.
Dorothee Feller, the education minister of North Rhine‑Westphalia and coordinator of the Bundesrat‑backed education minister conference, said she would bring Claus’s recommendations to the conference’s agenda. “My goal is that abuse victims throughout Germany receive all the entitlements they are owed” Feller told the newspaper.