Ethics guidelines to aid study of sexual abuse

The German government has issued a set of ethical guidelines for research into paedophilia and sexual abuse.

The guidelines, published last week, set out best practice and offer advice on handling the physical and mental effects of abuse that researchers come across. The document also contains information about the legal requirements and scope of such research, according to Johanna Wanka, Germany’s research minister.

“Since creating a round-table against the sexual abuse of children we’ve made huge strides in research to prevent such cases,” Wanka said. “But we’ve seen that ethical guidelines are crucial for this sensitive field.”