Conditions of Criminal Activity: ‘No questions, no witnesses, no police’
Failed “baby-box” experiment in Germany: every fifth child left in “baby-box” vanished without a trace
By Maxim Zhilenkov and Vitaliy Kanunnikov. REGNUM
Watching the discussions about “baby-boxes,” one cannot help but wondering about the reason of such intense “baby-box” promotion that is happening right now in Russia. “Baby-boxes” are an alien idea to Russian mentality and were already proved unsuccessful abroad. Do we really want Russia to duplicate the wretched experience of other countries, where a good 1/5 of all children left in “baby-boxes” vanish without a trace? Such sad statistics are reported from research conducted in Germany, stating a definitive conclusion that “baby-boxes” are not a viable option in saving the lives of newborns.
The story of anonymous abandonment of newborns in Germany began in September of 1999, when German mothers were allowed to anonymously transfer their newborns to an employee of “Catholic women social service” (Germ. Sozialdienst katholischer Frauen) within the project Moses. In December of the same year, under the project Foundling (Germ. Findelbaby), the German non-profit organization SterniPark located in Hamburg set up a telephone hot-line mothers could use to get a consultation or work out the time and place for an anonymous abandonment of their newborn baby.
The first modern “baby-box” in Germany was installed in April of 2000 by SterniPark within the above-mentioned Foundling project, prompted by four cases of infanticide that year in Hamburg. According to SterniPark, there were 91 “baby-boxes” in Germany in 2016 (93 according to other sources [1], [2]).
SterniPark was conducting its project Foundling under the slogan ‘No questions, no witnesses, no police.’ Some questions, however, did arise. Witnesses were questioned, but no charges have been pressed yet.
And now – some more facts.
In 2009, the German Youth Institute (Ger. Deutsches Jugendinstitut), in compliance with the order of the Federal Ministry of Family, Pensioners, Women, and Youth (Ger. Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend), initiated a strain of investigations of the current situation with anonymous child abandonment in Germany. The investigations took place from July 1, 2009, to October 15, 2011, and were called Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany – quantity, proposals, and contexts (Ger. Anonyme Geburt und Babyklappen in Deutschland — Fallzahlen, Angebote, Kontexte) [3].
Before were talk about the investigations’ conclusion, a few words are due about the Institute itself.
The German Youth Institute is the largest social science research institute in the area of children, young people and the family, conducting studies of childhood, youth, and family and their connections and issues of political and practical nature. The Institute conducts interdisciplinary policy consulting, provides scientific support to practicing professionals, and acts as a liaison between science, policy-making, and specialized professionals. More information about it can be found on the German Youth Institute website.
Research results of the report ‘Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany – numbers, proposals, and contexts’ were published in February of 2012 [4].
The conclusions of German Youth Institute researchers are troubling. Initially claimed goal of preserving the lives of newborns in danger of infanticide through anonymous surrender was deemed unaccomplished [5]. Struggling women (such as prostitutes, drug addicts, and those ready to murder their newborns), who were targeted by the project, had not used the “baby-boxes” or any other services of anonymous child desertion [5]. According to the research, the services were utilized by a non-target population, such as women who already have children or those with a history of child abandonment.
The German Youth Institute investigators point out that “baby-boxes” are often used outside of their purpose. There are cases of several-month-old babies being left there, as well as dead babies and babies with disabilities; the children would be dropped off by someone other than mother or abandoned “temporarily” in a hard life situation [5].
Before we quote the numbers presented in the study, it is important to note that there are currently three ways one can anonymously surrender an infant in Germany: transfer a child face-to-face to a social worker, leave a child in a “baby-box,” and by anonymous birth.
The results of studies of anonymous births and “baby-box” situation are published in Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” Final Report [5]. Pages 11 and 12 read, “There were 973 counts of anonymous child relinquishment during the period from end of 1999 through May 31, 2010. Two-thirds of the children (652 children) were anonymous births, one third (278 children) were left in “baby-boxes,” and the other 43 were transferred face-to-face to social service employees on conditions of anonymity. The corresponding care organizations were not able to account for the children in 21.6% cases of the children left in “baby-boxes” and 23% of anonymous births. Consequently, these organizations could not locate over one-fifth of the anonymously turned in children at the time of study [5].”
This means that the German bureaucratic system, notoriously famous for its accuracy, acknowledges that it cannot track the children left in “baby-boxes.” We are talking about one child in every five!
One cannot help but ask, what happens to these children?
In 2009 German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published an article Foundlings from the gray area, where it exposed four cases of children left in anonymous “baby-boxes” the Youth Agency (Ger. Jugendamt) was not aware of [6]. By German law, the Youth Agency is supposed to be informed about a child in a “baby-box” immediately.
Ditrih Verzih, Senator of Health and Social Policy, city of Hamburg, suggested that an evaluation was conducted to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a criminal investigation in SterniPark activities, which is in charge of the city “baby-boxes,” directly implying that SterniPark has possible involvement in child trading.
In the same article, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quotes Professor of Gynaecology Psychosomatic medicine Dr. Bonna Anke Rode, “In my opinion, there is no need for “baby-boxes;” in fact, they are rather harmful. Based on my forensic psychiatric experience, I can state that women who murder their newborns are not the women who take their child to a “baby-box” [6].”
As to infanticide, the research results clearly demonstrate that an option of anonymous child refusal in Germany did not swing the number of murdered or newborns left to die without care. As reported on pages 17 and 18 of Infanticide. Legal evaluation of report ‘Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany – numbers, proposals, and contexts,’ “Level of infanticide in Germany between 1980s and the year 2009 can be estimated as consistent with insignificant variations [7].”
In other words, no correlation was established between availability of “baby-boxes” and other ways of anonymous abandonment and the number of children’s deaths.
Based on the “baby-box” experience of Germany, it is safe to conclude that “baby-boxes” have no impact on the numbers of child mortality, and they don’t help mothers who have decided to get rid of their newborns. German sociologists ground their conclusions in massive statistical data on anonymous child relinquishment going back several decades. Even considering the German pedantic accuracy and attention to details, every fifth child of those turned into a “baby-box” vanishes without a trace!
Now think again: do we really need “baby-boxes” in Russia?
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[1] SterniPark: List of “baby-boxes” as of January 2016. Ger. “Babyklappenliste, Stand Januar 2016”
[2] “Baby-boxes” in Hullhorst: A list of known “baby-boxes” in Germany and other countries. Ger. Babyklappe Hüllhorst: «Liste aller Babyklappen in Deutschland und weiterer Länder (soweit bekannt)»
[3] Project Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany – quantity, proposals, and contexts. Ger. “Anonyme Geburt und Babyklappen in Deutschland — Fallzahlen, Angebote, Kontexte”
[4] Study analyses and conclusions on the project Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany – quantity, proposals, and contexts. Ger. “Anonyme Geburt und Babyklappen in Deutschland — Fallzahlen, Angebote, Kontexte”
[5] Final report on anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany. Ger. Abschlussbericht «Anonyme Geburt und Babyklappen in Deutschland»
[6] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Foundlings from the gray area. Ger. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: «Findelkinder aus der Grauzone»
[7] Infanticide. Legal evaluation of report ‘Anonymous births and “baby-boxes” in Germany – numbers, proposals, and contexts.’ «Neonatizid. Expertise im Rahmen des Projekts «Anonyme Geburt und Babyklappen in Deutschland — Fallzahlen, Angebote, Kontexte»
Russian source:
https://regnum.ru/news/society/2124726.html
Link active as of January 27, 2017. RV