Online Course "Prevention of Sexual Child Abuse"

Online Course "Prevention of Sexual Child Abuse"

07/2011-09/2014

Background & Aim of the Project

Most professionals who work with children in the fields of education and healthcare, mental health care in particular, will at some point in their career encounter cases of child sexual abuse (CSA). They may deal directly with victims, or they may suspect abuse or be confided in by a child whom they are assisting in other ways. Unfortunately, many professionals feel unsure of how to handle this situation. Still, the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education at the The German Federation's Round Table on Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional and Familial Contexts (“Runder Tisch sexueller Kindesmissbrauch in Abhängigkeits- und Machtverhältnissen in privaten und öffentlichen Einrichtungen und im familiären Bereich (RTKM)“) and the Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues came 2010 to the conclusion, that initial contact persons for affected children and adolescents are insufficiently qualified and that there is a lack of continuing education programs on the topic in Germany. To address this gap, the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education funded from 2011 to 2014 the development of an online training program for professionals that is aimed specifically at the prevention of CSA.

The course contains basic and legal texts, film material and an interactive case trainer. The course takes 60 hours to complete.

Description of the Project

The project was successfully completed in September 2014. Almost 2,000 professionals completed the online course and have received a certificate of participation after passing the exams.

The accompanying research showed that course participation led to an increase in knowledge and skills, a promotion of emotional learning, a stronger awareness of the importance of networking, more confident cooperation and a better understanding of professional competences and limitations of other parties involved in child protection. It also became clear that, contrary to many assumptions, e-learning is also a suitable medium for continuing education on sensitive topics of child protection.

The course has been accredited or recognized in all federal states in which this is possible, with the exception of Berlin, as a teacher training course and has been certified by the State Medical Association Baden-Württemberg with 80 CME credit points.

After the funding phase, the course could be offered for a participation fee of 120 Euro until January 2018 via the School of Advanced Professional Studies (SAPS), an institution affiliated to the University of Ulm.

In context of a cooperation with Ludwigsburg University students can still participate in a blended-learning-version of the course.

At the moment, great efforts are being made to find financial funding to revise and update the course and to provide it again to a broader target group.

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)