Aufruf zur Unterstützung bei der Aufarbeitung im DHB

At the end of March, the German Handball Federation (DHB) has set up an independent inquiry board to deal with the incidents in connection with the allegations against coach A. Fuhr. The key task of the board is to give affected persons a voice and describe their experiences. From these experience reports, we (the members of the inquiry board) would like to draw important conclusions about which structures in the DHB and its subdivisions have favored violence and how these structures, in the sense of the best possible prevention and an early warning system, can be further developed in the future.

For this reason, we would like to specifically call on those persons affected from the above-mentioned context to contact us in order to report on their experiences. We also ask witnesses (e.g., supervisors, players, officials), relatives of affected persons and other people who have information on the mentioned case to talk to us about their experiences and observations.

The members of the inquiry board are aware that speaking about experiences of violence can be a great challenge and a burden. Thus, all participants are guaranteed a protected conversation framework with one or more persons, and confidentiality and anonymity are assured. Participation is on a voluntary basis and can be withdrawn at any time without giving reasons and without consequences. The talks can be conducted in person or via video conference. Furthermore, it is possible to send documents to the inquiry board via a secure connection.

The inquiry board, lead by sport psychologist Dr. Jeannine Ohlert, consists of a total of six persons; besides Ohlert also sociologist Prof. Dr. Bettina Rulofs, lawyer Martina Lörsch, Angela Marquardt as a representative of affected persons, handball coach Benny Barth as well as counselor Meike Schröer are part of the board. The talks will take place with members of the board or persons commissioned by it and will be evaluated exclusively by the inquiry board. A publication of the report in anonymous form is intended. Individual reports of affected persons will only be published with their explicit consent. We as the inquiry board act completely independent from the DHB; the DHB has no authority to issue instructions to the board.

If you have any questions about the processing, would like to send documents to the board or want to participate in the processing, please contact us via aufarbeitung-dhb@dshs-koeln.de.
Alternatively, it is also possible to contact the central place for affected persons at Athleten Deutschland (anlauf-gegen-gewalt.org).

We would like to thank all affected persons in advance for their trust in us.

Your inquiry board members,
Jeannine Ohlert, Benny Barth, Martina Lörsch, Angela Marquardt, Bettina Rulofs & Meike Schröer