Centre for Research on Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents
Continuous survey on young people's experiences of violence
This is the website for the Centre for Research on Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents (ZEFSG). Here, you can find information about the Centre and the survey of students conducted across all of Germany. This site is intended for students and their guardians, as well as teachers, school administrators, specialists, scientists, journalists and anyone else with an interest in this topic.
Violence against children and adolescents takes many forms – and is more common than many people think.
Sexual violence, physical violence, psychological violence or neglect
In addition, people can also experience passive violence and other distressing events, such as natural disasters, war or debilitating medical treatments.
Survivors report having experienced violence during their childhood:
A recent, nationwide representative survey of adults in Germany by Jarczok et al. (2023) shows the extent of the issue:
Sexual violence (9%)
Physical violence (20%)
Psychological violence (22%)
Neglect (16 %)
Information about the school survey
For school administrators, teachers and specialist staff in schools (German only)
information for school administrators
leaflet for school administrators
letter of intent (UBSKM)
For young people (German only)
About the ZEFSG
The ZEFSG’s main task is to regularly conduct surveys of children and adolescents in schools, to determine how often they are affected by sexual violence. The data and information collected are then shared with the Independent Federal Commissioner Against Child Sexual Abuse (UBSKM), who in turn reports these findings to the German Parliament, the Bundesrat (Federal Council) and the Federal Government.
