Exchange of experiences in youth work with a norm critical perspective with German youth worker Johanna Schmitz

”Mädchen*treff” is an autonomous youth center for girls between 13-20 in Cologne/Germany. The Peace Institute’s Fair Sex and Open Doors staff had the chance to meet youth worker Johanna Schmitz who presented the center’s causes and activities at the Peace Institute on 31 October 2013.

Mädchen*treff is an independent part of the cultural center “Alte Feuerwache” , which was established with its basis in the second feminist wave in Germany in the 1980s to create a space for girls at a time when youth work in general was dominated to a large extent by boys and men. One of the center’s goals is to empower girls as individual and give them confidence in their personal capacities and skills, to create a space for reflection, dialogue and communication and to foster intercultural dialogue. The center’s work is based on solidarity, participation, a norm- and category-critical approach as well as anti-sexism and anti-racism.