 |
|
Public Affairs coverage from our award-winning staff |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Victims' Advocates Criticize Priest Sex Abuse Study
Produced by Lynette Kalsnes on Wednesday, November 18, 2009
|
|
An advocacy group for victims abused by priests is criticizing a recent study.
The study that's underway is trying to determine why there was more priest sexual abuse in the '60s and '70s, and why it fell after 1985. It's being done for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Barbara Blaine thinks the study is "illogical." She heads the Chicago-based SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
BLAINE: What they really need to be looking at is what causes bishops and church officials to allow and to enable and cover up for sexual predators.
The study finds more than 9 in 10 cases are old—they took place before 1990. Researchers think there are fewer new cases due to factors like tougher laws, better education and screening for priests.
But Blaine thinks there's a lag in reporting abuse because recent victims are too young to come forward.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aline Frybarger, Jackson, Michigan // Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 7:32 AM
What Barbara says is true about taking years to report or come to grips with being sexually abused. I believe it is harder to report sexual abuse by a spiritual leader because he is a public figure. A public figure, such as a Catholic priest, is extremely powerful and Godlike to a child. So a child stuffs abuse by a priest to avoid public humiliation. The drop in cases after 1985 is not because abuse stopped, it's because the victims are not able to tell. Some may have a event trigger coughing up the past abuse, some will never be able to tell.
|
|
Sam Sling, San Francisco // Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 10:14 AM
Since 1985 U.S. priests and their bosses have had a vast increase in their amounts of international travel.
Might help explain the "drop" in the number of victims reporting in the United States.
|
|
tina, hawaii // Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 11:39 AM
I agree with Barbara Blaine.
How can we know that abuses fell after 1985 when statistics show that most victims don't deal with or even remember their childhood sexual abuses until age 40 thru 70 (which means those abused after 1985 havent come forward yet.
The bishops know that so why did they spend over a million dollars to do a study on that???
Same reason they do so many of their study topics (to pay people to say what fits their agenda).
They are so delusional (i think..
they still seem to believe that they can pull the wool over the eyes of their sheep .
There are 2 year olds who are more honest,moral, ethical and smarter than these men.
|
|
Gabe, Carlsbad, CA // Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 1:20 PM
Of course reporting has gone down because the victims are still struggling with admitting what happened to them. It takes a long time for the victims to be able to come forward. In addition to that, they have seen the treatment of those who did announce that they were sexually molested by priests. They have been made to feel like the criminal. Often they are attacked with angry words by parishoners who are upset that their priest has been accused. They are most often ignored by the bishops, and if they go to court, the bishops have seemingly unended funds to pay lawyers to stall and put off trials. (Funny, though, that when it comes to having money to compensate the victims, then they are ready to declare bankruptcy!! And yet, still be able to pay bankruptcy lawyers) Once the next wave of victims is able to report, we will see another surge in the numbers. The reason? The bishops have done nothing to prevent this from happening again.
|
|
Edward Lozzi, Beverly Hills California // Sunday, November 22, 2009 @ 5:50 PM
The study is a PR stunt to provide a smokescreen for the ongoing clergy sex abuse. Until Bishops who obstruct justice are brought to trial for their crimes, our children will remain at risk. Shame on the Bishops for yet another sham study to avoid blame.
|
|
|
|
|