Munich/Bamberg (dpa/lby) – Bavaria has expanded the range of therapies to prevent sexual offenses against adults. “With the “I can change” project, we are further improving therapeutic care. In this way, we are making a contribution to preventing sexual offenses,” said Minister of Justice Georg Eisenreich (CSU) on Wednesday. Thanks to the new project, people with sexual impulse control problems and fantasies of sexual violence towards adults can now also be offered free, anonymous and confidential treatment.
The project is based at the Bamberg Social Foundation, where the “Hellfeld” project has been running since the beginning of the year. This is aimed at people with ongoing proceedings for sexual offenses against children or the consumption of images of serious sexual abuse of children. The nationwide prevention network “Don’t become a perpetrator”, which treats people who feel sexually attracted to children, is also offered in Bamberg.
Eisenreich described the new project, which has been around since April, as an important addition. “By transferring the therapy concept, we can use the existing structures and benefit from synergy effects in prevention.”
Ralf Bergner-Köther, psychological psychotherapist and head of the prevention project, said that sexual assaults usually began in fantasies beforehand. “We try to identify disinhibiting factors with the potential perpetrators and resolve them with psychotherapeutic means. In this way we can prevent sexual assaults and rapes before they actually happen.”