Vienna, Sept 18, (dpa/GNA) – The organization SOS Children’s Villages in Austria has admitted to violence against children, at one of its locations in
recent years.
The weekly newspaper Falter reported on Tuesday, about allegations against a facility in the town of Moosburg in the southern state of Carinthia.
SOS Children’s Villages Austria stated in a press release on Wednesday, that the head of a children’s group had inflicted violence in the mid-2000s.
Additionally, it was said that an employee shared photographs of half-naked children in 2016.
SOS Children’s Villages apologized for the suffering the young people had experienced.
The accused employees have been reported. However, according to the report by Falter and the news agency APA, the investigations were discontinued.
It was stated that these employees have not been working for SOS Children’s Villages for years. The incidents have been addressed, and new structures
have been established, it said.
Some affected individuals have received compensation payments.
SOS Children’s Villages also announced that another case at the children’s village in the town of Imst, dating back four years, is now being examined.
In the past, there have also been incidents of abuse in SOS Children’s Villages facilities in Germany.
An independent commission last year tallied 189 reports of physical or emotional abuse, as well as violations of privacy, and also sexual abuse. This
number covers the period from 1976 to June 2023.
The first SOS Children’s Village was opened in 1951 in Imst, Austria, for orphaned and abandoned children after World War II.
Today, the organization cares worldwide for children and young people whose parents are unable to look after them for various reasons.
GNA