Bavarian sacrificial fund: help for parents after violent crimes!

Bavarian sacrificial fund: help for parents after violent crimes!

Aschaffenburg, Deutschland - Bayern has launched a new victim fund for violent crimes to help the financially affected parents of killed or seriously injured children. The fund is initially equipped with one million euros and is intended to supplement existing mechanisms for victim protection. The state government emphasizes that financial compensation can be a symbol of solidarity and important support for those affected. So far, widows and orphaned victims have had extensive compensation claims, while parents could generally only make claims in exceptional cases. This is considered unfair and the new fund should remedy the situation here.

The knife attack in Aschaffenburg, which took place on January 22, has a shocking background to this innovation. A two -year -old boy and a man were killed in the incident, while two other people were seriously injured. The perpetrator, a 28-year-old Afghan, was in a situation that is subject to departure and had previously made aware of several acts of violence, which triggered an intensive discussion about migration policy and security issues in Germany.

mental health and perpetrator behavior

Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) expressed that the question of whether the perpetrator could have been kept in psychiatric treatment. The attacker had already been in psychiatric treatment. However, experts warn against using mental disorders as the sole explanation for acts of violence. Statistics show that every person has a 30 percent chance of becoming mentally ill in the course of their lives, but the majority of these people are not a threat to other.

The Bavarian state government plans to check the regulations for the accommodation of mentally ill. State Chancellor Florian Herrmann announced that the responsible ministries will deal intensively with this complex topic. This progress is necessary to ensure the safety of the population without promoting the stigmatization of mentally ill.

challenges in the treatment of refugee people

Another problem becomes clear by the health care of refugees. Many of them have the desire for therapeutic support, but often do not receive any. Access to the health system is usually limited to emergency treatments for asylum seekers. The Refugio organization in Munich was able to meet only 37 out of 236 inquiries about therapy places. The early treatment of mental trauma is crucial to prevent serious mental illnesses, but reality often looks different.

A report by the Bavarian Refugee Council criticized the lack of systematic early detection of refugees with special protection needs. At the same time, studies show that over 40 % of refugees suffer from depression and many suffer from trauma from their homeland or during flight. In particular, the situation in admission facilities contributes to the deterioration in mental health.

Studies on mental health of refugees

empirical data prove that the mental health of refugees in Germany is severely impaired. A meta-analysis reported about 30 percent prevalence for post-traumatic stress disorders (PTBS) and depressive diseases. The life situation in the accommodations, coupled with fears and uncertainty about the future, reinforces these negative developments.

The socio-economical panel (SOEP) and institutions such as the AOK have also recorded health indicators among refugees. The results make it clear that almost 87 % of the refugees have experienced traumatizing events and report more than 56 % of other traumatic experiences. So far, politics has dealt with little with the urgently needed structural changes to improve mental health care.

The new victim fund is therefore a small but important step to focus on the fate of those affected, while the challenges in mental health and care for refugees continue to require high efforts by the government.