Im Modus der Zeugenschaft Wissen hervorbringen und einordnen. Zeitliche Perspektiven auf Aufarbeitung sexueller Gewalt an Kindern und Jugendlichen

Abstract Producing and Classifying Knowledge in the Mode of Witnessing. Temporal Perspectives on Coming to Terms with Sexual Violence against Children and Young People The article focuses on the question of how the testimony of people who experienced sexual violence in their childhood can lead to new and further knowledge. Using the example of dealing with the past violence by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse Issues in Germany, historical and conceptual considerations are presented. The focus is on the category of time in three levels of analysis: Firstly, the temporal caesura that occurred in 2010 in dealing with this form of violence will be analysed. Secondly, dealing with the past as a whole and the Inquiry activities will be embedded in the historical context and an analysis of dealing with the past and transitional justice will be presented. Thirdly, selected results on the thematisation of temporal dimensions in reports by victims to the Inquiry will be presented and discussed. Dealing with the past in the mode of witnessing can lead to new insights into the dynamics of violence and shed light on the different sides of victims’ experiences of powerlessness. Ensuring this continues in the future could also be a task for academic publications.