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17. 10. 11. - 15:00

Experts to check kid's home rape ordeal claims

A former lawyer or a retired state prosecutor is set to head a special investigative commission after former residents of a children’s home spoke out about serial rapes by carers.

The two women told the Kurier newspaper yesterday (Sun) up to 20 girls were in rooms when serious sexual abuse took place at the Wilhelminenberg home in Vienna. The institution was in operation until 1977. The women lived there for some years in the 1970s.

Now a spokesman for the Austrian capital’s youth protection council said a committee independent from the city government of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Greens should look into the allegations. His announcement comes after federal Freedom Party (FPÖ) chairman Heinz-Christian Strache called for a "full clarification" of the accusations.

Only a few weeks ago, a commission set up by the highest representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, awarded 15,000 Euros to a woman, 45, who said she had been sexually abused as a minor by clerics.

The committee created by Schönborn in March 2010 is headed by former Styrian ÖVP Governor Waltraud Klasnic. Some organisations fighting for the rights of victims of sexual and physical abuse at Catholic children’s homes and other institutions managed by the Church criticised her nomination. They claimed Klasnic would never make unbiased judgements due to her strong ties with the Catholic Church.

Recent newspaper and radio reports have it that significantly fewer victims got in touch with the committee headed by Klasnic in the past months than in the first few months of its existence. Provincial ombudsman organisations also registered declines after being put under pressure by a high number of people speaking out about what they had to endure as children at Catholic and public institutions.

A commission established by the government of Salzburg decided 11 former residents of social care institutions managed by the province of Salzburg should receive 150,000 Euros in total. The committee was active between September 2010 and June 2011. The initial plan was to operate for four months. However, the deadline for victims to come forward was extended twice due to the strong feedback. Most abuse cases occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the commission. The most recent incident reported by a victim took place in 1993. The province of Salzburg also decided to assign scientists to conduct a study on educational methods in children’s homes since 1945.

The hundreds of alleged cases of sexual and physical abuse by priests and employees of Catholic homes for children are seen as the main reason for the increasing number of people leaving the Church. Official figures showed last January that 87,393 Austrians cancelled their memberships in 2010. The figure was a 63 per cent rise compared to 2009 – and a new post-war record.

Vienna Times

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