Berlin, 22.05.2024

On the resolution recommendation of the Youth Welfare Committee (JHA) of 14.05.2024:

At the last meeting of the Youth Welfare Committee on 14.05.2024, which dealt with the termination of the service contracts for the operation of the girls* facilities ALIA and PHANTALISA  for FRIEDA e.V., a majority voted on a resolution recommendation.  In it, the Youth Welfare Office is requested to withdraw the extraordinary termination of the service contracts in order to initiate an orderly procedure.

The letter also set out the expectations of the Youth Welfare Committee, both for FRIEDA as the supporting association and for the employees of the facilities, in order to enable the continuation of work in the facilities under the sponsorship of FRIEDA e.V.. These include:

• a “public distancing of the organization ‘from anti-Semitic statements and attitudes’ and from ‘fundamentally denying Israel’s right to exist’
• the suspension of supervision and the authority to issue instructions to “suspected employees and managers of the organization […] until the allegations have been clarified”
• the development of a concept “to prevent further harm to the target group”, which should include ensuring that the facilities are open to all girls* and young women*, that pedagogy should be implemented in the context of fundamental neutrality in social work and that social peace and the ability to work should be restored.

We would like to point out that these expectations of the provider are not only very vague, but also once again contain accusations and insinuations that have no legal or professional basis.
Even if this resolution recommendation was made by the JHA, the responsibility for implementing new service contracts for both facilities lies in the hands of the youth city councillor Kindler and the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Youth Welfare Office. Kindler had already made it clear at the youth committee meeting that – if a recommendation for a resolution was voted on by the JHA calling for the extraordinary termination to be withdrawn – he would have this examined by the legal department of the youth welfare office.

This means that the situation on site in the facilities remains unchanged, while the legal review by the Youth Welfare Officeis still pending.

The requirements set out in the “conditions” in the JHA’s recommended resolution can only be met by the employees of the facilities if new service contracts are drawn up on the basis of which they can continue to work. Otherwise, the association will be forced to terminate the employment contracts of all employees internally at the end of this month (May 31, 2024) due to the lack of funding from the youth welfare organization.

There was no further communication between the youth welfare office and FRIEDA e.V.after 14.05.24.

On the JHA meetings and presentation of the recommended resolution in public:
On 15.05.2024, the Bild newspaper published an article entitled: “Girls‘ centers run by Israel haters to reopen”. The management and board members of FRIEDA e.V. have repeatedly emphasized in the various JHA meetings that the association and its facilities work according to intersectional, queer-feminist, gender-sensitive approaches that oppose all (intertwined) forms of discrimination. This naturally includes racism, anti-Semitism, queer hostility, sexism, classism and all others. This intersectional approach is not only an integral part of the concept of both facilities, but is also reflected in the theoretical and practical work in the facilities.

The practical work is also always accompanied by the Youth Welfare Office (by an assigned responsible person), so that the topics, focal points, projects, etc. of the Youth Welfare Office are known. These are anchored in target agreements, discussed in half-year and end-of-year meetings and closely monitored throughout the year. The statement that not all visitors to the facilities can feel safe and/or are influenced by staff in such a way that their autonomous personal development is at risk is simply false and extremely problematic. It merely refers to accusations and allegations made against employees and management by the youth councilor Kindler and that have no legal basis.

The expertise and professionalism of the specialist staff is simply denied without an expert opinion having been drawn up on the actual content of the work in the facilities.

At the same JHA meeting, it was also made public that, in order to avert further damage to the association caused by the accusations and allegations against the association’s project coordinator, they decided together with the Executive Board to terminate her employment contract with due notice. It was also explained that she is currently no longer working.

The public presentation of the resolution recommendations suggests that only the sponsoring organization and the employees have to accept them in order for educational work to be resumed. In reality, however, it is up to Mr. Kindler and the Youth Welfare Office to accept not only the recommended resolution, but also the new service contracts (and their content).

The public portrayal in the media distorts the picture and the reality of the current situation.

On the current situation:

On 17.05.2024, a notice was posted on the gate of the outdoor area of our facility PHANTALISA   – Space for girls* and young women* without consultation with the youth welfare committee or the FRIEDA e.V. During the course of the day, an employee from the CHIP youth center in Berlin-Kreuzberg also handed over a letter to the project management of the ALIA – Center for girls* and young women*. In this letter, the Youth Welfare Office informs visitors, parents and interested people that the regular services of these facilities are currently suspended due to the temporary closure of the facilities and points out alternative services for girls* in the district.

Despite the efforts of the Youth Welfare Committee (in a total of four meetings lasting several hours) to find a solution, the Youth Welfare office has created facts with the notice published on 17.05.2024 that do not indicate any serious interest or willingness to cooperate in a clarification process.

We are irritated by this notice and would like to know why it was distributed. How can it be that it was created after the Youth Welfare Committee formulated a clear recommendation that the termination of ALIA and PHANTALISA  under the sponsorship of FRIEDA e.V. should be withdrawn? Furthermore, the recommendations in the notice about alternative open children’s and youth facilities are by no means alternatives for visitors, as none of the open children’s and youth facilities offer specific queer-feminist work with girls*. We are very concerned that visitors of ALIA and PHANTALISA  have long been denied access to intersectional, queerfeminist-sensitive open services in the district.

We ask ourselves whether this action is in the interests of the visitors and whether this approach corresponds to the idea of respectful communication in the eyes of the administration. Once again, the Youth Welfare Office is ignoring the JHA and direct communication with the association.

Seven days after the resolution, there is still no communication from the Youth Welfare Office or Youth Councillor Kindler regarding the next steps specified in the recommended decision. There is a growing impression that the unfounded suspicion of the association’s employees is being used to allow time to pass in order to remove current employees from their positions and tasks as quietly as possible. Due to the termination of the service contracts, the employment contracts of the employees will expire operationally by 31.05.2024. As mentioned above, the employment contracts of the employees working in the facilities will end in 9 days‘ time at the end of the month due to the funds that have not yet been paid out. 

If Youth Councillor Kindler appreciates the actions of the democratic body (Youth Welfare Committee) and actually has the well-being of the visitors in mind, as was stated in the notice of termination, the recommended resolution should be implemented as quickly as possible in order to resume work in the facilities with the staff employed there under the sponsorship of Frieda e.V..

Email: frieda@frieda-frauenzentrum.de

Instagram: @frieda_frauenzentrum