Victim-Offender Mediation Bremen

Processing, managing and mediating interpersonal conflicts

The Bremen Victim-Offender Mediation Service helps Bremen residents process, manage, and resolve interpersonal conflicts. At the heart of our work is victim-offender mediation, a legally regulated measure for out-of-court mediation in conflicts relevant to criminal law (which do not necessarily have to have been reported to the police).

Describe your conflict to us! We will gladly discuss with you whether conflict resolution is an option for you.

Victim-offender mediation

A conflict involving criminal acts has many unpleasant consequences. Out-of-court conflict resolution (victim-offender mediation) can help process what happened, limit damage, and achieve redress for the injustice suffered.

This procedure is particularly suitable where, in addition to the legal problem, a personal relationship exists between the parties involved or has arisen as a result of the events. It is also suitable when, due to factual and legal complications, lengthy and expensive legal proceedings without a satisfactory outcome are to be expected.

We offer the participants

• to discuss what happened in a relaxed atmosphere with neutral mediators
• to jointly seek a solution to the conflict
• to find a solution that is acceptable to both sides
• to reach an agreement on how to interact with each other in the future
• To meet conflicting parties on neutral ground upon request

Arbitration boards

The regional arbitration offices of TOA Bremen eV can be found here

Other offers

In addition to the legally mandated task of victim-offender mediation, the Victim-Offender Mediation Bremen also offers other violence prevention and conflict resolution services:

Stalking KIT

The Stalking Crisis Intervention Team (Stalking-KIT) is a low-threshold service offering psychosocial counseling, supportive conversations, and referrals to further services for those involved in stalking conflicts – i.e., both victims/injured persons and accused/stalkers – from the state of Bremen, i.e., the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven.

TOA in enforcement

For many years, Täter-Opfer-Ausgleich Bremen eV has offered prisoners of the Oslebshausen correctional facility support in dealing with their own behavior and constructively managing the conflicts underlying the crime ("TOA in prison").

Mediation in neighborhoods

Social mediation within the framework of the "Mediation in Neighborhoods" projects is a transfer of the methods of victim-offender reconciliation (mediation in criminal law) to such conflict-prone areas of everyday life that are not criminally relevant (e.g., because children below the age of criminal responsibility are involved) or cannot be resolved satisfactorily using police and criminal law means (e.g., neighborhood conflicts).

"Neighborhood Mediation" is currently funded on an optional basis in certain Bremen districts through the cross-departmental municipal action program "Living in Neighborhoods" (WiN). These districts feature decentralized mediation centers, designed to be easily accessible and located in community facilities (community centers, residents' meeting places, etc.). During open consultation hours, residents can contact professional mediators to discuss conflicts.

Work fund

The TOA Bremen work fund enables young defendants, who would otherwise not be financially able to do so, to generate (at least partial) financial compensation for damages agreed upon within the framework of a conciliation procedure for the benefit of the injured/victims by performing voluntary work in non-profit organizations.

Further projects

Graffiti projects

Vandalism and illegal graffiti pose a significant burden for society and individual victims alike: they devalue the space, can encourage further vandalism, and often contain discriminatory and offensive content. Finally, they also result in considerable effort and high costs for removal.

Neighborhood spokespersons

For over 15 years, TOA Bremen has experience in implementing and running neighborhood spokesperson projects. Practical experience in addressing neighborhood conflicts shows that their root cause usually lies in a lack of contact or disrupted communication, and is often exacerbated by general dissatisfaction and a lack of identification with the living environment.

Anti-cyber-stress

Bullying and exclusion conflicts, especially among young people, have shifted even more strongly to the internet and social media ("cyberbullying"), exacerbated by the lack of social contact during the coronavirus crisis. TOA Bremen offers projects on these topics upon request, including lectures, exhibitions, and workshops, as individual events, series of events, or as part of project weeks.