Association for international youth work

The Association for International Youth Work (vij) - Bundesverein e. V. - as a professional association is one of the members of the Diaconal Work of the Evangelical Church in Germany ( EKD ). These professional associations are associations that are active in certain diaconal fields and whose area of work goes beyond that of a regional church. In accordance with its field of activity, the vij-Bundesverein belongs to Section II of the community and integration-oriented professional associations .

The vij consists of regional associations to which local associations and local groups belong. The naming and geographical affiliation of the state associations correspond to the Protestant regional churches . The federal association based in Nuremberg acts as the umbrella organization. It maintains a federal office for service, coordination of the vij associations and public relations.

As a Protestant women's association , the vij bears the suffix “Working Group of Christian Women”. Founded by women for women and with an international focus, the associations are active in the fields of youth welfare, international youth social work, migration, intercultural learning and the prevention of human trafficking. As anchored in the statutes, the vij promotes working and trainee young people at home and abroad and grants them support and help. Since it was founded at the end of the 19th century, protecting young women from sexual and economic exploitation has been a central task of the associations.

Focus of work

The vij has a network of placement agencies and au pair clubs in Germany for the placement and accompaniment of foreign au pairs with German host families and German au pairs abroad. The federal association has a branch in Paris. In addition, the vij works internationally and cooperates with church partners and non-governmental organizations abroad.

The vij operates three international dormitories for young people in Nuremberg, Munich and Stuttgart and one student residence in Nuremberg. There are social therapeutic forms of living for young women with living groups, individually supervised and accompanied living in Munich.

The women's information center FIZ in Stuttgart and the specialist advice centers JADWIGA in Munich and Nuremberg campaign for the rights of married migrants and victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution . They offer comprehensive support and help for those affected in crisis situations.

Integration aids for migrants and their children, school projects and recreational measures for Chernobyl children complete the range of services offered by the vij associations.

In Württemberg, the church station mission is run by the vij-Landesverein Württemberg together with the Catholic Association for Girls and Women’s Social Work (IN VIA). In the other federal states, the station missions are sponsored differently.

history

In the late 19th century, due to industrialization and rural exodus , young women poured into the cities. They are maids, governesses, shop assistants and factory workers who seek a livelihood abroad and are exposed to economic and sexual exploitation there. The legal and political situation for women was catastrophic at the end of the 19th century.

That is why 32 women from seven countries founded the “Union Internationale des Amies de la jeune Fille” ( International Association of Friends of Young Girls ) in Geneva at the congress to combat prostitution and trafficking in girls in 1877 . The "friends" from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland look for fellow campaigners in leaflets.

Just 15 years after it was founded, there are 6,000 women worldwide and around 3,000 women in Germany who work as “friends” on a Christian-Protestant basis for the association. In 1914 16,536 women in five continents and 52 countries joined the association. A seven-pointed star in the shield of St. Michael, representing the nationalities of the founders, and the letters A and F for "Amie" (girlfriend) and "Fille" (girl) become the identification mark of the "girlfriends".

The association directs its work from Neuchâtel in Switzerland. In 1884 the first "Ratgeber" was published. It is a unique handbook that contains the international addresses of friends, a directory of local associations and national offices at home and abroad, a list of hostels, employment agencies and Sunday clubs and suggestions for leisure activities. Those who leave can find information across national borders, plan their stay better and minimize dangers.

In 1882, the German friends founded the German national office. State, provincial and local associations are formed everywhere. The German Empress Auguste Viktoria takes over the patronage. The club management is also mostly recruited from aristocratic circles. The German Friends Association quickly reached the highest membership level in the entire association.

Easily recognized by the girlfriends badge on the armband, the "girlfriends" begin their practical work at the stations with a "pick-up service" and thus initiate the establishment of the German station mission . The need to create accommodation in your own dormitories quickly arises. By the Second World War, 54 homes were built across Germany that were named “Home for Girls”. In addition, the "friends" also create an efficient job placement system, which, as the annual report of the Frankfurt local association from 1908 to 1909 shows, is very successful. The care of the women in the association also extends to women working in the postal service and railroad service. The association also participates in the "waitresses and baths mission". Here, the "girlfriends" look after women in the catering trade who are apparently particularly morally threatened, as well as shop assistants and chambermaids who are employed in baths and climatic health resorts.

During the First World War, the “girlfriends” took in injured or homeless people in their dormitories and looked after girls who were deployed in the war. Through their international contacts, they can convey news about family members abroad. In 1920 the "girlfriends" received approval from the Reich Ministry to broker a foreign agency. They set up advice centers for emigrants . In Germany, the focus of work in the following years was on the accommodation of the unemployed and the many welfare cases. Due to the global economic crisis and inflation, the association gets into financial hardship, but the Swiss “friends” help it out of the crisis.

The internationality, which proved to be advantageous during the First World War, became the club's undoing during the reign of National Socialism. In 1934 the Nazi regime banned the work of the switching agencies and confiscated valuable address material. 1940 the dissolution of the association is ordered and the property is liquidated. Of the association's 54 homes, 51 are lost due to the war. As early as 1946, the club management met in the intact home in Frankfurt am Main and began with the reconstruction with the support of the central office in Neuchâtel. After 1945 the “Freundinnen” brokered household jobs mainly in England, France and Switzerland. The interest of young people in other European countries and the desire to learn foreign languages lead to a new field of activity. In 1956, the Federal Labor Office awarded the association an order to place au pairs abroad, which was expanded in 1962 with the order to place au pairs in Germany. Since 1970 the name of the association has been "Association for International Youth Work eV - Working Group of Christian Women".

Memberships

The "Association for International Youth Work e. V. - Working Group of Christian Women, Bundesverein e. V. "is a member of the Evangelical Women in Germany e. V. (EFiD) and has a seat in the German Women's Council. He is a member of the Federal Association of Protestant Youth Social Work (BAG EJSA), the Gütegemeinschaft Au pair e. V. (GAP) and the World Federation of Christian Associations of Young Women e. V. ( YWCA ).

Association for international youth work

contents

Focus of work

history

Memberships

Web links