Information in plain language

You can find information about the help line on this website.

The long name is:

Hilfe-Telefon Gewalt an Männern.

Much of the information about the help telephone

is also available in plain language.

You can recognize information in plain language by this symbol:

The information on the website is also available

as a video with German sign language.

Would you like to see the video?

Then click on the word Sign Language at the top left of the website.

You can also write a chat message

or a message in the online consultation.

Here we explain how the online consultation works.

You can call or write to us

if you experience violence.

Or if someone threatens violence.

Maybe you are ashamed of the violence.

Maybe you think: I am to blame for the violence.

But that doesn't matter.

You can always call or write to the helpline

if you want to talk about the violence.

You can also call or write

if another person experiences violence

or is threatened with violence.

For example:
 

• in your family 
   
• in your home 
   
• in your circle of friends. 
   
• in the neighborhood.

Important: The advisors do nothing that you don't want.

Many women and men work at the help line 
as counselors.

All of them have a lot of experience.

And they are good at helping.

Or they tell you: Who can help you.

The people affected experience violence everywhere in their lives: 
 

• At home 
   
• In homes for the disabled 
   
• In residential homes and workshops 
   
• In care settings

Many men have experienced violence:
 

• as children 
   
• as adolescents 
   
• as adults. 
   

Sometimes talking about violence

is difficult for those affected.

Maybe you don't know exactly: Is this violence?

• Because you are afraid of your partner. 
   
• Because you are afraid of not seeing your children anymore. 
   
• Because you are sometimes not believed. 
   
• Perhaps you feel ashamed. 
   
• Maybe you think: It's my own fault for the violence. 
   
• Perhaps you find it difficult to describe 
  the violence and your feelings.

Everyone has limits on

what they want to do and what not.

Everyone must respect these boundaries.

Sexualized violence violates these boundaries.

• Someone touches you, 
  even though you don't want them to. 
   
• Someone kisses you. 
  But you don't want that! 
   
• Someone forces you to have sex. 
   
• Someone is forcing you to watch others having sex. 
   
• Someone secretly gives you knockout drops. 
  For example, in a drink.

K.O. drops are drops that anesthetize a person.

This means:

They become unconscious.

They fall over and fall asleep.

They cannot defend themselves.

They don't realize what is happening.

The perpetrator takes advantage of this:

They force you to have sex when you cannot defend yourself.

Stalking is English.

It is pronounced like this: STOA-KING.

Stalking means: following and harassing.

Cyber stalking is pronounced like this: SZEI-BER STOA-KING.

Cyber stalking means: following and harassing on the internet,

with emails or chat messages.

• The person follows you while you are shopping. 
  
  Or on the way to work. 
  
  Or to a friend's house. 
   
• The person breaks into your apartment 
  
  or house. 
   

Forced marriage means:

Your family chooses a person you have to marry.

You don't want that. You want to decide for yourself.

But your family forces you to marry the person. 

Mobbing is English.

It is pronounced like this: MOBB-ING.

It means: Treating someone badly on purpose.

• In the subway 
   
• On the street 
   
• At the soccer stadium 
   
• In the park 
   
• At the youth center 
   
• At the workplace 
   
• At the club.

• molest 
   
• beat 
   
• spit on 
   
• harass 
   
• assault 
   
• threaten 
   
• insult 
   
• injure or kill 
   
• exercise sexualized violence

When people use violence against other people

they are called violent offenders or violent perpetrators.

It is particularly bad

when the perpetrator and the victim are related.

Or if they are good friends.

For example:

• Family members: 
  
  Parents, step-parents, foster parents, partner or ex-partner 
   
• Friends 
   
• Neighbors 
   
• Caregivers in the residential home 
  
  or in the workshop 
   
• Employees of outpatient services 
   
• Bus drivers 
   
• Colleagues in the workshop or fellow residents

Violence can have many serious consequences for those affected:

• They are very sad. 
   
• They have no desire to get up. 
   
• You have a stomach ache or headache. 
   
• You can no longer sleep.

There are shelters for men.

And men's counseling centers.

All men can get help there.

Even men with disabilities!

Some advice centers have services

for men with different disabilities.

For example: advice in plain language.

Are you in danger?

Or do you think something bad has happened?

Please call the police immediately.

You can always call the help phone.

If you want to call, click here.

You may not wish to speak.

Or you cannot speak.

You can then write an e-mail to the help phone.

The e-mail address is: beratung@maennerhilfetelefon.de.

You can also send an email via the online advice service.

If you want to use the secure online advice service,

you need to register.

You can remain anonymous when logging in.

Anonymous means: You do not write a name

in the registration form.

Then no one will know who you are.

You need the following to log in:
 

• A user name 
  
  Think of a name. 
  
  You must remember the name well. 
  
  Your user name can contain 
  
  letters and numbers. 
  
  Your user name must not contain any special characters. 
  
  Special characters are for example: @ + * - % & ( ) 
  
   

• A pass word
  
  There must be 4 different types of characters in the pass word: 
   
• Upper case letters
   
• Lower case letters
   
• Numbers
   
• Special characters

You must agree to the terms and conditions

of the online consultation.

Please check these boxes:

• Terms of use
   
• Data protection declaration of consent
   

You can enter your e-mail address when you register.

You will then receive a message at this address

as soon as the help phone has written an answer for you.

You can also talk to the advisors

in instant text chat.

Chat is English and means: to talk.

Chat is pronounced like this: CHAT.

You write to the advisors about what happened.

The advisors write back immediately.

This is possible during these times:

Monday to Thursday

from 12 noon to 3 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm.

The chat consultation is available without registration.

You do not need to make an appointment.

You can see the advisors

on the website.

A green sign next to an advisor

means:

The advisor is free.

You can start chatting immediately.

A red sign next to an advisor

means:

The advisor is currently busy.

You can start chatting later,

when the advisor is free again.

Here you can access the instant text chat.

Online advice and instant text chat advice

are anonymous and secure.

This means that no one knows who you are.

You will find 3 buttons at the top of the website:

"I have experienced violence"

"I would like to help"

"I would like to know more"

Here you will find information on different types of violence.

And links to other offers with information and help

on the Internet.

Here you will find this information:
 

• Who makes the help phone
   
• Who gives the money for the help phone
   

You will also find info sheets and info booklets

as a file to download to your computer

Here you will find a report by researchers

about the work of the help line.

You will also find material for newspaper articles

or information events about the help line.

For example:

• Download the help phone logo.
   
• Info sheet about the help phone.

Attention: The information on this website

is not in plain language.

We hope we have explained the page to you well.

Do you have any questions about the help phone

or the website?

Would you like to tell us something else?

Do you have any ideas about what we could do better?

Then click on Contact at the bottom of the page.

You can then write us a message

The website www.maennerhilfetelefon.de

is part of the Ministry for Children, Youth, Family,

Equality, Flight and Integration

of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The abbreviation of the ministry is: MKJFGFI.

This is pronounced like this: EM-KA-JOTT-EF-GE-EF-IH

The ministry says:

All people should be able to use our websites.

All people should be able to understand the information on the website

well.

Including people with disabilities.

For example:

• People with visual impairments
   
• People with hearing impairments
   
• People with learning difficulties
   

There should be no obstacles to using

the website.

Another word for obstacle is: barrier

We also say:

The Internet pages of the Ministry should be barrier-free.

There are precise rules for barrier-free websites.

The rules for websites of public institutions

in North Rhine-Westphalia are set out in an ordinance.

The ordinance is called:

Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance

North Rhine-Westphalia.

The abbreviation is: BITV NRW.

This is pronounced like this: BITT-VAU EN-ER-WEH.

The Competence Center for Barrier-free

Information Technology has checked:

Does the website www.maennerhilfetelefon.de

adhere to the rules of the BITV NRW?

The result is:

Yes! The website complies with all rules

of the BITV NRW.

This means:

The website www.maennerhilfetelefon.de is barrier-free.

Are there any problems with the accessibility

of the website?

Or would you like to know more about accessibility?

Then please let us know.

How you can reach us:

You can write us a message

in the contact form

You can write us a letter.

Our address is:

MKJFGFI

Völkinger Straße 4

40219 Düsseldorf.

You can call us.

Our telephone number is:

0211 - 837 20 00

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has a monitoring body

for the accessibility of its websites.

The name of the monitoring body is:

Monitoring body for barrier-free information technology

The Monitoring Body repeatedly checks

the websites of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The monitoring body checks:

Does the accessibility of the Internet pages work?

You may notice:

The accessibility does not work well

on a website of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Then you can let the monitoring body know.

Write an email to:

ueberwachungsstelle-nrw@it.nrw.de

You can find more information about the tasks

on the website of the monitoring body:

This information is not in plain language.

Perhaps you have already sent us a question

about accessibility.

Or you have already let us know

because accessibility does not work well on a website.

And you have not received an answer.

Or you are not satisfied with our response.

You can then complain about us.

This can be done at the Ombuds Office for Barrier-free

Information Technology of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The word Ombuds Office comes from the Swedish language.

It means: a body that stands up

for the rights of citizens.

The Ombuds Office for Barrier-free Information Technology

is part of the

North Rhine-Westphalia Commissioner for People

with Disabilities and Patients.

The ombudsman mediates in the event of complaints.

The ombudsman's office examines why the website

is not barrier-free.

And the ombudsman's office supports the institution in

making the website barrier-free.

Important: You do not have to pay any money for help from the ombudsman's office.

And: You do

not need a lawyer for help from the ombudsman's office.

You can write an email to the ombudsman's office.

The address is: ombudsstelle-barrierefreie-it@mags.nrw.de

You can find more information about the work of the ombudsman's office

on the Internet page:

This information is not in plain language.

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