Donations are essential so that we can support victims in need. They flow into the Emergency Assistance Fund, through which we can provide benefits that do not fall under the Victim Assistance Act (OHG). There are always situations in which the law ties our hands. One example is a traffic accident in which a client’s dog was injured. The dog’s medical treatment was financed from the emergency fund. In the case of a mother and her two children, who had suffered domestic violence for several years, we were also able to provide a long-overdue vacation thanks to donations.

We can also only carry out prevention work thanks to donations. It is not covered by the Victim Assistance Act. For example, our experts visit school classes to talk about violence. And they show young people how to set themselves apart and protect themselves from being touched.

Psychological violence such as insults, verbal humiliation, verbal abuse, suicide threats and accusations cannot always be linked to a criminal offense. In such cases, the Victim Assistance Act does not apply. But psychological violence occurs frequently and the suffering is great. Thanks to donations, we can offer victims access to help and necessary therapies, especially in cases of psychological violence within relationships.

Finally, Opferhilfe beider Basel relies on project donations to enable important services and developments for victims. These include chat counseling, the “Louise is here” project and #bleibnichtallein in the area of children and young people.