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Protection of children and young people

Vorlesen

German Sports Youth (dsj) and its member organisations have a clear commitment to safe sport that is free from violence and are resolutely working to counteract any form of violence in sport. Sports associations and clubs have an intrinsic responsibility to ensure that people are protected from psychological, physical and sexualised violence as far as possible within their structures. Playing sport in a club is supposed to empower children and young people and provide them with a protective environment. Therefore, sports clubs are involved in the task of protecting children and young people, which is a task facing society as a whole, and help children and young people to find important contacts and support. 

dsj is actively committed to providing protection against violence at all levels of organised sport through prevention, intervention and processing. In 2010, the DOSB member organisations entered into a commitment to provide protection against sexualised violence in sport. This took the form of the “Munich Declaration” with the slogan “Prevent and explain, look and act!”. The dsj multi-stage model, which was launched in 2018, and the DOSB multi-stage model, which was approved by the DOSB Members’ Meeting in 2020, laid down important foundations in a binding form. Funding for the member organisations was linked to the step-by-step implementation of far-reaching standards relating to protection against sexualised violence in sport. All the measures pay into the goal of comprehensively embedding protection against violence throughout the structures of organised sport nationwide, down to a club level, and of ultimately making each of the around 87,000 sports clubs into a safe space. 

Counselling and contacts

If you have questions relating to prevention, intervention and processing in the context of psychological, physical and sexualised violence in sport, the contacts at the state youth sports associations and state sports federations, the (youth organisations of the) central associations and the associations with special functions will be able to help. You can find the contact details under “Information and counselling” at www.safesport.dosb.de.  

External counselling centres

As well as the points of contact within organised sport, there are also external help services and counselling centres for victims of psychological, physical or sexualised violence or for people with questions relating to this topic:

The helpline: telephone counselling around the clock

The counsellors are trained and experienced professionals and can provide counselling in 18 languages (incl. sign language). They will listen to you and take you, your situation and your questions seriously. If you want, the counsellor will inform you of the options for support and assistance near you.

Sexual abuse helpline

The “sexual abuse helpline” is the nationwide, free and anonymous point of contact for victims of sexual violence, their families and people from the social environment of children, for professionals and for all interested parties.

"Anlauf gegen Gewalt", a point of contact for elite German athletes

The independent point of contact “Anlauf gegen Gewalt” (contact to combat violence) is there for elite German athletes who are experiencing or have experienced psychological, physical or sexualised violence in elite sport. You can reach Anlauf gegen Gewalt: 

  • by calling 0800 90 90 444 at the following times: Monday, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and Thursday, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.  
  • and by sending an email to kontakt(at)anlauf-gegen-gewalt.org.

Safe Sport, an independent point of contact for victims in sport

Independent point of contact for victims of psychological, physical and sexualised violence in sport

  • Telephone counselling: 0800 1122200 (hotline hours: Mon, Wed, Fri 10 a.m. -12 p.m. and Thurs 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.)
  • Online counselling – i.e. by email, chat or video (securely via www.safe-sport.not-a-problem.de)
  • On-site counselling in Berlin (book an appointment at 030 220138710)

You can find further (specialised) help and support services in the help portal. You can look for appropriate services such as counselling centres, emergency services, therapeutic and legal services in the database.