Without much fanfare

adminonNovember 26, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Pope Francis © shutterstock

Overshadowed by the Corona crisis, Pope Francis marked the seventh anniversary of his election on Friday. A rather quiet day for the Pope. Now 83 years old, he was inaugurated on 13. March 2013 to succeed Benedict XVI. were elected.

Public events did not take place. In a historically unprecedented move, the Pope's deputy in the diocese of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, had ordered the closure of all parish churches the previous evening. However, by midday Friday, the measure had already been largely withdrawn.

"Drastic measures are not always good"

Francis had prayed for strength and discernment for priests at the beginning of his morning Mass at the Santa Marta residence for the right help. In doing so, he added: "Drastic measures are not always good." He went on to pray for "the sick, the families who are suffering from the pandemic". Only a few people attended the service, including Francis' two private secretaries.

As pope, Francis is spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide. Themes of the Jesuit's term so far have been reforms of church leadership, strengthening decisions of conscience, the fight against sexual abuse and sustainable global development. Some conservative circles in the Church, including in ranks of the Curia, accuse him of abandoning Catholic principles.

Girls in Sierra Leone © Plan International

Several brutal rape cases had sparked unrest in Sierra Leone in recent weeks. A national state of emergency is now in effect in the West African country because of the sharp rise in sexual violence.

President Julius Maada Bio announced in the capital Freetown the establishment of a special police unit and a special tribunal to more quickly prosecute cases of sexual violence, the British broadcaster BBC reported Friday night.

Reported rapes almost doubled

Several brutal rape cases had sparked unrest in the West African country in recent weeks. State of emergency allows government to make changes to laws and budget spending more quickly and without parliamentary approval.

According to the BBC report, the number of reported rapes rose by nearly 4 last year.500 cases to a total of 8.500. Sierra Leone has a population of about 7.5 million and was rocked by a bloody civil war in the 1990s in which sexual violence was widespread.

The case of a five-year-old girl who is paralyzed from the waist down after being allegedly raped by her uncle has made headlines in recent weeks. President Bio announced a change in the law, making rape of minors punishable by life imprisonment with immediate effect. Previously, the maximum sentence for rape was 15 years.

Teen pregnancies rose to 65 percent

Sierra Leone was one of the hardest hit countries in an Ebola outbreak in 2014 and 2015, with more than 4.000 people lost their lives. The epidemic led to a breakdown in public life, apparently associated with a sharp rise in domestic and sexual violence.

According to a study by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), the number of teenage pregnancies increased by as much as 65 percent in some regions of Sierra Leone after the 2014 Ebola outbreak, because children, for example, had lost their parents and were therefore at greater risk of abuse.

Sexual assaults on Ebola survivors are still commonplace today, according to media reports. Sierra Leone, once a British colony, is among the poorest nations in the world. During the civil war from 1991 to 2002, it is estimated that more than 120.000 people killed.

New service aims to help victims of organized abuse © Rolf Vennenbernd

Sexual and ritual violence require special expertise in dealing with trauma. For that reason, from now on there will be a telephone service to offer help to victims of organized abuse.

A new telephone counseling service is designed to help victims of organized abuse. The service launches this Friday and is aimed at both victims and people who are concerned about someone, have a suspicion or are seeking information on the topic. The abuse commissioner of the German government, Johannes-Wilhelm Rorig, announced that.

Sexual and ritual violence

It is mainly about organized sexual and ritual violence. In organized violent structures, the systematic use of severe sexualized violence in combination with physical and psychological violence is made possible by the cooperation of several perpetrators.

Often this is associated with commercial sexual exploitation. When an ideology serves as a justification or rationale for violence, it is called ritual violence.

"berta" – free of charge and anonymous

Nationwide, the service called "berta" will be available free of charge and anonymously at 0800 /305 07 50 on Tuesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is part of the "Sexual Abuse Help Line," which is run by the Abuse Commissioner and the association N.I.N.A. is organized. It is the first such contact point for victims of organized sexualized and ritual violence, it said.

The contact persons of "berta" are reportedly psychologically and pedagogically trained and have many years of personal experience with organized and ritual violence. They advise on opting out and all related ies. In addition, they provide information and point out other opportunities for support. Every conversation at "berta" remains confidential, he continued.

Help for those affected to get out

Those affected by organized sexualized and ritual violence structures need active support to get out, because this form of violence is often practiced in very isolated structures and the existing help system is usually not effective, said Rorig.

There is also a need to raise awareness among psychological and educational professionals, as well as among the judiciary and politicians. Those affected reported that they were usually not believed when they confided in them.

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