Shaping city life together
13.11.2024 – Religious communities, associations and initiatives of people with a history of migration come together once or twice a year to discuss current issues in Offenbach together with the city. At the invitation of Martin Wilhelm, Head of Social Affairs and Integration, and Abdelkader Rafoud, Chairman of the Foreigners' Advisory Council, the 31st meeting of the Competence Team took place at Café Frieda on Wednesday, November 5, 2024.
"Offenbach is a good place to live - but that doesn't happen on its own, it only happens thanks to the commitment of its citizens. To ensure that our city remains liveable in the future, we need strong allies like you," said Wilhelm, welcoming the members of the competence team. "Your experience, your feedback and the fact that you take the various topics back to your associations and communities - that is valuable and important for Offenbach," added Rafoud afterwards. The two main topics of the evening made it clear how important strong allies are.
Luzia Rott, a specialist in the city's Women's Office for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, gave her presentation on verbal sexual harassment in public spaces, also known as "catcalling". During Rott's presentation, the high number of young victims of catcalling was particularly alarming: 97 percent of all women have experienced catcalling at least once in their lives. 85.2 percent of the girls affected are under the age of 16.
In this context, there was also a discussion about spaces of fear, i.e. places where people feel fear due to the local conditions. One participant said that even as a man, there are places that you don't like to walk past. So it was understandable to him that this is even more unpleasant as a woman.
The second speaker of the evening was Christine Langenbach, who introduced herself to the members of the competence team. As Coordinator for Health Promotion & Prevention at the City Health Department, she spoke about the importance of a health-conscious lifestyle, equal health opportunities and the need for corresponding health-promoting structures. Langenbach invited all those present to take part in the upcoming specialist and networking event "Promoting health together" on December 9, which will cover the above-mentioned aspects in detail.
The Head of Integration also had a little surprise in store, as this year's competence team coincided with Rafoud's birthday. He congratulated Rafoud on his birthday and thanked him for his many years of work for Offenbach.