Advice Centre Hesse — Religious Tolerance instead of Extremism

Violence Prevention Network gGmbH

The NGO Violence Prevention Network is a group of experienced specialists with many years of experience in the fields of prevention of extremism and deradicalisation. Various federal ministries, state-level justice departments, state-level and national security agencies and institutional partners have worked closely with the association from its inception, and they value the group’s high degree of knowledge and competency, and its outstanding reputation.

The main focus of the Violence Prevention Network is to work directly with radicalised people at different stages of radicalisation. The aim is to support them in disengaging from inhumane ideologies and violent behaviour.

The organisation’s projects have been or are financed by institutional, regional, federal funds, the European Social Fund (ESF) or the European Commission.

Type of Organisation: NGO

The main focus of the Advice Centre Hesse is to intervene in the radicalisation process. Targeted deradicalisation activities are aimed at people who tend to travel to war zones, return to Germany as ‘foreign fighters’ and/or are seeking to disengage from extremist ideologies. The Advice Centre Hesse also deals with cases of extremism related to other countries.

The Advice Centre Hesse deals with adolescents, parents and experts who have questions related to extremism. The centre provides prevention, intervention and deradicalisation measures that can help those who feel helpless and overwhelmed in their dealings with religious extremism. The Advice Centre Hesse promotes increased (religious) tolerance of different world views, as well as early detection, prevention and reversal of radicalisation processes.

A key feature of the Hessian approach is to provide adolescents, at an early stage, with in-depth information on interfaith and intercultural connections, and on dealing with interfaith conflicts. Interfaith communication allows for a basic understanding that does not reject fundamental principles such as democracy, non-violence, human rights and tolerance. Rather, it includes these values in one’s own religion as well. At the same time, this understanding also prevents extremism and the trend towards radicalism.

In order to cover a broad spectrum within the target group, prevention as well as intervention measures are used. In particularly entrenched cases, deradicalisation measures and disengagement assistance are provided.

The objectives of the Advice Centre Hesse are to:

• prevent and reverse radicalisation processes and violent behaviour
• prevent departure (e.g. to Syria or Iraq)
• integrate returnees (e.g. from Syria or Iraq)
• promote interfaith/intercultural responsibility
• activate and professionalise institutions and multipliers.

Range of services

Prevention:

• Student workshops in schools on interfaith and intercultural responsibility
• Advice for parents, mosque congregations and other interested parties, in the framework of preventive work
• Civic education for promoting tolerance and democratic capability

Qualification:

• Information, awareness-raising and educational events for early detection and strengthening of coping skills for those in contact with vulnerable young people

Intervention/deradicalisation/disengagement assistance:

• Advice for relatives dealing with religious extremism
• Advice, support and special training for adolescents at risk of becoming radicalised, prior to delinquency
• Disengagement assistance: advice and dialoguepromoting measures with radicalised persons, foreign fighters and returnees (e.g. from Syria)

Address

Violence Prevention Network gGmbH
Alt-Reinickendorf 25
13407 Berlin
Germany

Contact person: Judy Korn, CEO
Telephone: (+49) 30 91 70 54 64
judy [dot] kornviolence-prevention-network [dot] de (Email) | Website