Umbrella Organization Expels SOS Children's Villages Austria

A bombshell after the terrible scandal surrounding inappropriate conduct at SOS Children's Villages Austria: The international board of the organization suspended SOS Children's Villages Austria as a member organization of the federation.

"Our serious and significant decisions reflect the board's unwavering commitment to tolerating no form of inappropriate treatment or lack of transparency within our federation," Domenico Parisi, chairman of SOS Children's Villages International, was quoted on Friday.

"We Cooperate Fully" "We respect this decision and cooperate fully with all responsible bodies. This is a measure in accordance with the statutes when misconduct or abuses occur in member associations that need to be examined more closely," the corresponding statement read. The mission in Austria remains unchanged: "To consistently come to terms with the past and implement the restructuring of the organization. The temporary suspension does not change this."

At Least Eight Boys Subjected to Inappropriate Treatment by Founder After it became known that SOS Children's Villages founder Hermann Gmeiner is alleged to have subjected at least eight boys to inappropriate treatment, the extent of the acts remains open. For although the affected person protection commission thoroughly investigated the acts, this was always done under strict confidentiality with the affected persons. Only now has the reform commission requested that the corresponding reports be submitted to it in anonymized form, said Hedwig Wölfl of the commission.

Between 2013 and 2023, the affected person protection commission received around 200 reports, eight of which concerned Gmeiner. Here, persons plausibly stated that they had suffered inappropriate conduct from Gmeiner and were compensated by SOS Children's Villages with up to 25,000 euros and coverage of therapy hours. However, major internal investigations were not carried out.

The exact content of the statements could not be passed on by the independent and non-instructed affected person protection commission — not even to other bodies of SOS Children's Villages. Only now will the reform commission gain insight into the form in which Gmeiner's inappropriate treatment actually took place and whether there were patterns, complicit persons, or even accomplices in his transgressions.

Older Case Abroad However, an older case is once again in the spotlight: In 2022 it became known that an Austrian major donor was suspected of having subjected eight boys to inappropriate treatment during his visits to a Southeast Asian country, boys who were under the care of SOS Children's Villages. The man, now deceased, traveled there repeatedly between 2010 and 2014. The visits were stopped only after a complaint from the facility. The case was shelved as an "isolated incident."