- Livia Ratzka volunteers at the White Ring in Delmenhorst and takes on public relations and victim protection support there. Klitte emphasizes the importance of her age for the club.
- Ratzka studies law in Bremen, is active as a badminton coach and sees volunteering as an opportunity to give something back to society. She highlights the importance of helping victims.
- In the White Ring, branch manager Klitte attaches great importance to maintaining a professional distance from victims. Ratzka emphasizes her ability to set boundaries and help herself; In Delmenhorst, 50-60 cases are cared for per year.
Livia Ratzka is convinced: “If everyone in society did just a little more, life would be easier and better for everyone.” The 21-year-old doesn’t just say these words, she also lives them. Despite her young age, the Viennese native, who grew up in Buchholz in the Nordheide, is involved with the White Ring – initially in the Harburg district and, since moving to Delmenhorst almost two months ago, in the branch on the Delme. In addition to victim protection assistance, the 21-year-old will primarily be responsible for public relations. According to its manager Axel Klitte, the White Ring in Delmenhorst has neglected this since it reopened three years ago.
“It is unusual for such a young person to volunteer,” says Klitte. When he got the call last year from his colleague from Buchholz saying that she had a young woman with her who was moving to Delmenhorst and would like to support the White Ring, he was immediately excited. “Age is interesting,” said Klitte. The White Ring and the work it has been doing in victim protection support for almost 50 years should become better known, especially among the younger generation. “Young people speak a different language than a 60-year-old,” says the branch manager. With Livia Ratzka he now has someone on the team who speaks this language.
The 21-year-old confirms how little known the White Ring is among her generation: “Everyone knows the logo, but no one knows what it is.” The woman from New Delmenhorst didn’t feel much different at first, she admits. The fact that Ratzka chose the White Ring for volunteer work was the result of an internet search on the website of the volunteer agency in Buchholz. “I consciously looked for something where I could get involved,” she says.
Interest in law
The White Ring seemed appropriate to her. Because it also deals with topics that the 21-year-old is interested in: law and order. That’s exactly what led Ratzka from Buchholz to Delmenhorst. After several internships at law firms, she started studying law in Bremen in the winter semester. Because her boyfriend is studying in Oldenburg, the couple decided to move right in the middle: to Delmenhorst.
But it wasn’t just because of the legal perspective that Livia Ratzka started her voluntary work at the White Ring. “The work is very meaningful,” she emphasizes. Her previous experience has shown her that people often ask why a perpetrator could commit his crime. “Nobody asks how the victim is doing,” says Ratzka. That is wrong. As a woman, she knows only too well how often she is harassed in a seemingly harmless way. “In the club you get groped. Some people may just put up with it, others may find it stressful,” says the 21-year-old. She wants to be a help to these people.
Axel Klitte adds that it’s not just the club that is a place where women experience harassment. He reports from the football stadium, where incidents often occur. “In the fan curves, some men choose an attractive woman before the game. Then when a goal is scored, they hug her – under the guise that it was just a goal celebration,” explains the branch manager, who worked for the Hamburg police in victim protection for more than 20 years before retiring. A lot is happening in the fan scene now, he adds.
In Delmenhorst, the White Ring looks after between 50 and 60 cases per year. It is important to the branch manager that his employees – currently there are seven – do not become too close to the victims. That’s why there are only two, maximum three contacts. “It’s handled differently somewhere else,” says Klitte. But he attaches importance to maintaining a proper distance from the victims. The 21-year-old also pays attention to this. “I have compassion, but I can differentiate myself,” she says. Ultimately, it’s about helping people help themselves. The fact that she succeeds in distinguishing herself is probably due to her rational nature.
Further volunteer work in sports
But Livia Ratzka is not only involved in volunteer work at the White Ring. She has the C competitive sports license and has been training children between the ages of six and 18 in badminton at her home club Blau-Weiß Buchholz for four years. “It’s fun,” she says. “It sounds trite, but the children give you a lot in return,” she adds, remembering her birthday a few days ago when the children serenaded her via video message. She is a confidant for some children. “They talk to me about topics that they don’t talk about with their parents – especially the girls,” says Ratzka.
Due to her move to Delmenhorst, the 21-year-old is cutting back on her volunteer work at the sports club. She has handed over her groups to a successor. But: “If someone is missing, I’ll get on the train and take over.” She also continues to accompany tournaments on weekends or in training camps.
Ratzka is not only active in badminton as a trainer. “I also play in the association class myself,” she says. Due to a knee injury, she can currently only compete in doubles and mixed doubles. Despite the Germany ticket, she doesn’t travel to Buchholz specifically for the training sessions, but rather trains at TuS Heidkrug in Delmenhorst. Given all this activity, the question arises as to whether the 21-year-old even has time to sleep. “I can sleep when I’m dead,” she says, laughing. Ratzka doesn’t think it’s a lot she’s asking herself anyway. After all, everything is voluntary. If something doesn’t fit, then it just doesn’t fit. “If there’s a tournament in two weeks and I can’t, there are others who can take over. I’m not alone,” she says.
For the 21-year-old, volunteering is a matter of honor. Because she herself is grateful that there were people who got involved when she was young: “If it wasn’t for volunteering, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” Now she is giving a piece of it back to society.
The volunteer work of young people in Delmenhorst and the White Ring is currently stable, with five people volunteering, including a young student recently. Axel Klitte, head of the Delmenhorst branch, generally welcomes further interested parties, but sees the team as already well positioned. The demand for support is high, and younger people are also specifically invited to participate, while existing capacities are respected.
Sources
In their public relations work, aid organizations such as the White Ring are faced with the challenge of reaching young people in a targeted manner and raising awareness of issues such as crime prevention, victim protection and digital violence, since information is often not easily accessible and digital violent crimes such as cyberbullying and sextortion are increasing, especially among young people (Articles 1 and 2). Many young victims find it difficult to identify appropriate offers of help or to contact the organization directly, especially for fear of not being taken seriously or of being retraumatized (Article 2). It therefore remains an important task for the White Ring to communicate offers in a low-threshold and understandable manner and to create trustworthy access in order to effectively support younger people (Articles 1 and 2).
Sources
Organizations like the Weiße Ring meet the challenge of professional distance by having their volunteers undergo intensive, multi-stage training including a confidentiality clause and an extended certificate of good conduct. The helpers listen, point out options, but do not give direct recommendations or take any steps without the consent of the person concerned, with confidentiality being the top priority. In sensitive situations, such as sexual violence, operations are always carried out in pairs and in neutral locations to ensure closeness and protection at the same time.
Sources
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