Addressing sexualized violence challenges the Protestant Church's self-image. This volume combines approaches from the social sciences, systematic theology and cultural analysis. They aim to understand the conditions, dynamics and language patterns that have facilitated abuse and sexualized violence in church contexts and made it difficult to address.
Based on the results of the ForuM study, the structural and semantic characteristics of church organisations are examined: the power asymmetries between office and community, the diffusion of responsibility in participatory structures, and the role of informal communication channels. Analyses of films, institutions and a simulation game show how ecclesiastical semantics of closeness, trust and family could lead to forms of a helpless institution that denies power instead of regulating it.
This diagnosis is further developed in a theological-systematic manner: an ethic of closeness develops criteria for responsible relationships in asymmetrical contexts - based on physical integrity, the obligation to consent and professional responsibility. The contributions on toxic guiding principles and victim analogies show how idealized images of family, community and victimhood distorted the perception of real violence. In contrast, an organizational culture based on freedom, transparency and accountability is proposed.
The volume thus provides groundwork for further analysis and a reflective culture of prevention that relies not only on regulations and reporting requirements, but also on a deep understanding of the church's semantics of closeness, power and responsibility.
It is aimed at theologians, social scientists, those responsible in the church and social welfare, and anyone interested in sustainable and theory-based reappraisal.