Equal Opportunity Unit

What is the Interdisciplinary Coordination Office for Domestic Violence (iKOST HG)? The iKost HG is an association of various action partners who actively fight against the taboo of domestic violence and want to break the silence. Here, people from the most diverse areas of our society come together.

Within the framework of iKost HG, experts from counseling and refuge centers, independent organizations, but also from the judiciary, medicine, the police and (municipal) administrations are committed to combating domestic violence. Through the interdisciplinary exchange, measures of prevention and intervention can be developed together, which take into account different points of view and thus better support those affected and professionals.
What is the goal of iKOST HG? In addition to public relations, one of the goals of iKost HG is to continuously improve existing standards of prevention and intervention and to adapt them to current developments. Furthermore, information about existing contact and counseling services is to be communicated more transparently and the actors are to be trained by means of demand-oriented advanced training.

The City of Wolfsburg, represented by the Equal Opportunities Department, is also a member of iKOST HG. Through active participation in networking meetings and expert conferences, the fight against domestic violence is to be supported in Wolfsburg in a targeted and sustainable manner. In order to be able to pursue a holistic approach to the prevention and intervention of violence, the Equal Opportunities Department is in close contact with the Youth Department, which is responsible for the topic of child protection.

The life and work of women is a significant part of our culture. This special treasure is presented by "frauenORTE Niedersachsen," an initiative of the State Women's Council. For the first time, the great achievements that women have made and continue to make in the political, cultural, social, economic and scientific fields are recounted on site in the cities and regions.

In Wolfsburg, the engineer Dr.-Ing. Sibylle von Schieszl is commemorated today with a women's place. More than 40 years ago, she was the first woman to rise to the top of the Volkswagen Group. She was also a co-founder of the Soroptimist International Club Wolfsburg in 1963.

Among others, Jörg Röhmann (State Secretary of the Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equal Opportunities), former Lord Mayor Klaus Mohrs, Cornelia Klaus (Chairwoman of the State Women's Council e.V.), Elke Heitmüller (Head of Women's Promotion Volkswagen AG), Dr. Manfred Grieger (Head of Historical Communication Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft), Martina Witkowski (Works Council Volkswagen AG), Michel Junge (Managing Director phæno gGmbH) and Beate Ebeling (Equal Opportunities Officer City of Wolfsburg) participated.

The frauenORT in the VW Lounge at phæno honors the work of Sibylle von Schieszl with a detailed presentation of her life story and exhibits on her scientific activities. On display are exhibits dealing with the viscosity of oils, the subject of Sibylle von Schieszl's doctoral thesis. The exhibits allow visitors to see and feel how oils behave in different ways. Two of the three exhibits were built especially for frauenORT by Volkswagen trainees.

Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equality. State Secretary Jörg Röhmann: "Unfortunately, historiography often still focuses too much on men and their achievements, so that one sometimes has to search for "women's history" and its outstanding figures. The project frauenORTE remedies this situation and draws attention to women, e.g. from culture, politics or science, in a mostly entertaining way. I would therefore like to thank the State Women's Council for its initiative and for the creative ideas for the frauenORTEN. But my thanks also go to the cooperation partners here on site, the city's Equal Opportunities Department, Women's Promotion, the Works Council and Historical Communications of Volkswagen Wolfsburg and the Phaeno."

"Finally, there is also a women's place in Wolfsburg. Sibylle von Schieszl can be a great role model for young women in particular and encourage them to take up a technical profession. In Wolfsburg, our booming business location, we need the skills of girls and women in these areas as well," explained former Lord Mayor Klaus Mohrs.

"Physicist Dr.-Ing. Sibylle von Schieszl was already able to make a name for herself as a recognized scientist and manager as an engineer in the 1960s and 1970s. In other words, at a time when neither a career nor an occupation in the natural sciences, let alone as a manager, were a matter of course for women. With the frauenORT Sybille von Schieszl, one of the pioneers in science and education in Lower Saxony is thus honored," Beate Ebeling emphasized.

In addition to the main location in the phaeno with a lot of information about the life of Sibylle von Schieszl, the city's equal opportunities department has published an information flyer. This flyer is dedicated to Sibylle von Schieszl, but also presents an inner-city walk that provides information on other Wolfsburg women from the field of technology in the broadest sense.

frauenORTE is an initiative of the Landesfrauenrat Niedersachsen e.V. (Lower Saxony Women's Council), which brings the lives and work of important historical women to life and makes them better known to the public. Their achievements in the political, cultural, social, economic or scientific fields are to be highlighted and honored.

The Sibylle von Schieszl Women's Place was created in cooperation with the Landesfrauenrat Niedersachsen e.V. (Lower Saxony State Women's Council), Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, the phaeno interactive experience museum, the Soroptimist Club Wolfsburg, Wirtschaft und Marketing GmbH (WMG) and the Equal Opportunities Department of the City of Wolfsburg.