Contact form #metoo
With this contact form you can send us your reports about sexual or physical abuse, psychological coercion and any other form of misuse of power at German conservatories. You can share your experiences with others anonymously on our blog. You just need a valid email address for possible further inquiries. We won't share your personal information with any other person, but of course you are free to use an anonymous email address. This won't affect your credibility in any way. Below you can find some help for writing your report as well as an example for the anonymization. Thank you very much for your trust!
If you are not sure how to write your report, here are some questions to help you get started. Click on each question to get more information. If the questions are not adequate to your case just write your report freely. If your report appears to be harmless in comparison to other cases, don't worry, we are interested in every story!
What happened?
Describe the events as precisely as possible. Details can be helpful, but write only as detailed as you like.
We may censor certain aspects of your report, if they are too drastic, to prevent other persons affected from being triggered. We will try to preserve the content as much as possible.
Who was involved?
Which position did he/she have at the conservatory (e.g. student, teacher, professor ...)?
Did anyone else look away or even take part?
Don't give clues about your identity. Use sentences like "The teacher did ..." or "The following happened during class: ...". If you would like to share details like your identity or of the person in question please use the contact form. The information from the contact form won't be published.
Where did the events take place?
Did it take place at the conservatory, at a concert or at the person in question's home?
Were there any witnesses?
Other students or musicians could have witnessed the events.
We are aware of the problem, that at many occasions there are no witnesses in class. You are welcome to write a report about the events anyway.
How did you react?
Were you able to defend yourself?
How did you feel?
Were you able to solve the situation?
Did you talk to someone about it after the event?
Often it is hard to defend yourself against a powerful person who attacks or humiliates you. There is no shame in that, it happens to many people. Don't worry about being judged if you couldn't do anything.
How did the conservatory react?
Did you inform someone at the administration?
In many cases the conservatory is obligated to start an internal investigation. Do you know if this was the case or if the conservatory in general had knowledge of the events?
Did some kind of hearing happen or did the conservatory approach you in any other way?
How did the person in question react?
Did he/she apologize?
Did he/she try to minimize the importance of the event?
Did he/she change his/her behavior in future situations?
What consequences did the event have for yourself?
Did you suffer disadvantages or bullying during class or at the conservatory?
Did you quit your studies or did you change your teacher?
Did you file charges?
How do you feel about music and your instrument today?
How do you feel about the person in question today?
Many victims report job-related disadvantages, mental stress or physical problems. Does anything like that apply to you?
How did your environment react?
Did someone help you?
Did someone believe/disbelieve you?
Did someone blame you?
What consequences did the event have for the person in question?
Were charges filed against him/her?
Was there a disciplinary inquiry?
Does he/she still teach?
Did colleagues, students or other musicians try to talk to him/her?
Did he/she realize his/her misbehavior?
Do you know about other persons affected?
Did they have similar experiences with the person in question?
Did you share your experiences?
What do you think is the cause for the event?
Was there an awkward atmosphere at the conservatory or in your class that could have been accountable for incidents like this?
Do you think this was a one-time incident which won't occur again in the future?
Do you suspect mental stress with the person in question?
It's easy to suspect mental stress and bad intentions. The people's background often is more complex. For example, many offenders have been victims themselves, even though that is no excuse for their actions. Please don't speculate too much!
This is an example how we anonymize the reports. All names and events in this example are fictional and can't be connected to any real events or persons. On the left side you see the report sent to us via the contact form. On the right side you see the anonymized report, which we would publish on this blog.
From: John Doe <john.doe@email.com> Age: 24 Sex: male Instrument/department (Fachbereich): Piano Conservatory (Musikhochschule) in question: Musical School XY Person in question and his/her position at the conservatory: Prof. Smith When did the events occur? Summer term 2017 Today you are ... : Student May be published on this blog: I agree to let my report being published on this blog (www.dasharfenduo.de/wordpress/blog), possibly in an edited, translated and further anonymized way. Report: During class with Prof. Smith, my teacher wasn't happy with how I had been practicing. For every wrong note she yelled at me. I tried not to cry. I feared this would make things worse. After class I met a fellow student. She saw that something was wrong with me. I told her about the lesson, but she had to promise me not to tell anybody. The next week, Prof. Smith was reserved and repellent. After a short time she interrupted me and told me she had received a complaint from principal Jones. She recommended I should look for another teacher for the next semester, if I didn't like her style of teaching. Until then she refused to continue teaching me anymore. At the beginning of the new semester I started to participate in Mr. Taylor's class. Luckily he taught at the neighboring building at 1st Mainstreet and I didn't have to meet Prof. Smith anymore. Because of the stress and the canceled lessons I had to delay my exam and only got a 2.7. Other students later told me about similar situations with Prof. Smith. No one filed a complaint, I guess they feared to suffer the same consequences as me. Prof. Smith still teaches today.
Student has to change the teacher after being verbally abused by him/her
During class with my professor, he/she wasn't happy with how I had been practicing. For every wrong note he/she yelled at me. I tried not to cry. I feared this would make things worse. After class I met a fellow student. He/She saw that something was wrong with me. I told him/her about the lesson, but he/she had to promise me not to tell anybody. The next week, my professor was reserved and repellent. After a short time he/she interrupted me and told me he/she had received a complaint from the principal. He/She recommended I should look for another teacher for the next semester, if I didn't like his/her style of teaching. Until then he/she refused to continue teaching me anymore. At the beginning of the new semester I changed the teacher. Because of the stress and the canceled lessons I had to delay my exam and got a bad result. Luckily the new teacher taught at a different building and I didn't have to meet my former professor anymore. Other students later told me about similar situations with him/her. Nobody filed a complaint, I guess they feared to suffer the same consequences as me. My former professor still teaches today.