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Author: Paula Kavanagh

Why Ending Celibacy for Priests is not the answer to ending child sexual abuse

This week the media have been reporting on the commissioned report in Australia that investigated an epidemic of child abuse dating back decades. The commission identified 4,444 victims of abuse most of those suspected of abuse were Catholic priests and religious brothers.

The commission has urged the Australia’s Roman Catholic leadership to press Rome to end mandatory celibacy for priests.

My feeling on this are that again governments and the media do not understand the nature of abusers or the crime of abuse itself. Priests being celibate is not the problem or the driving force behind individuals who carry out childhood abuse.

According to Dr Elly Hanson, clinical psychologist and advisor to CEOP, “most child abusers are not only sexually interested in children. Children are often targeted for sexual abuse simply because they are usually more vulnerable than adults.”

Just why some men abuse children is the question that everyone wants answers to.  Unfortunately, it is such a complex issue with no simple answers to. I also believe that governments want to label and categorise the people who commit these crime without ever putting any strategy in place to prevent and treat those who do commit these horrendous crimes.

There are in fact no simple answers as to why someone commits child abuse because when you are dealing with people, we are all different and different circumstances result in different outcomes.  However, there are some common threads when investigating those who have committed abuse and some priests can be identified with sharing some but not all of the traits of those who abuse children.

For example, some research found that about half of the men who sexually abused children were in a stable relationship with many abusers continuing to maintain a sexual relationship with their partners so priests who are celibate are not any more likely to abuse than other men;

Some hold positions of power and influence within their communities. They can in fact have suffered abuse of some form when they were children and as a result seek to find feelings of power and control over others and their sexual interest in the child is second to the need for control and power over the child. Again, priests being celibate will not make any difference to this driving force.

Despite what many people think, most sexual abuse of children is carried out by someone they know, including relatives and family friends. When looking at the statistics on child abuse you will see that over 90% of sexually abused children were abused by someone they knew with 80% of preparators being a parent. So again, celibacy for priest is not the big issues here.

I am not for one-minute minimising the damage the catholic institutions have done and continue to do to our children. But looking in the wrong direction only avoids actually putting in place measures that will address the underlying causes of abuse and help support the millions of victims across the globe.

The issues of child abuse needs more than soundbites and shocking headiness. We need real discussions and commitment to services that victims need to help them recover. We also need real discussions and services to help those who abuse and a culture that allows for those individuals who have inappropriate desires to come forward and receive treatment.

Paula, 16th December 2017

Getting it Right- to Report or Not to Report

In an article published in the Irish Times on Monday December 11th 2017, Helen Buckley spoke about the many reasons why Children’s First Legislation -Mandatory Reporting of child abuse will put children at greater risk.

She said that the perverse consequences of this legislation may indeed outweigh its benefits due to the current under resourcing of social workers and their lack of availability to address any increase in reporting.

I would just like to give a different perspective on the need for mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse and why I believe it is at very least an important step in the right direction.

Although Tusla is greatly under resourced and this government and those who went before them fail to protect children. Doing nothing is not the answer. Waiting for yet another report or more evidence that children are in danger is simply scandalous.

Not having adequate reporting structures in place and not providing training for all those working and or caring for children to be able to identify a child at risk is just not good enough. Leaving individuals with the question of ‘who and should I report my suspicions to’? is not going to help anyone.

Knowing that the system that is in place can not handle its current workload is beyond reprehensibly. But it is still not a good enough reason for leaving individuals who suspect and in some cases, know that a child is at risk say nothing to no one only continues to encourage a culture of no accountability.

When I was 7 years old my father raped me so badly that I developed a prolapsed womb and when, at my mother’s instance my parents brought me to hospital to be examined, the doctor that carried out the examination did not report it, he did nothing.

When my sister Joyce told our family doctor when she was 16 that my father was abusing her he did not report it, he did nothing.

When my sister June told a priest in confession what my father was doing to her, he did not report it and again did nothing.

I am not saying that mandatory reporting would have resulted in stopping my father but what I am saying is that at the very lease it would have created a chain of accountability that could be followed and traced back and those individuals that did nothing could be held to account.

Mandatory reporting alone will certainly not solve the many problems of child abuse. Inadequate training provision and lack of political will all need to be challenged. We all have an equal responsibility to report suspected child abuse. We should not require reporting child abuse to be mandatory but unfortunately, we do. The fear of getting it wrong, along with a culture that still exists of minding your own business and not interfering in your neighbours life is not a strong argument for not reporting your suspicions. The risk of getting it wrong is outweighed by the benefits of saving even one child from a life of suffering.

Governments fail time and time again to understand the importance of properly resourcing those agencies that take care of our most vulnerable. The cost of not doing so is a price we all pay. If the cost to society of not providing adequate services to children and all victims of abuse were truly understood, then funding those services would never even be questioned. Mandatory reporting is such a small step to help children, but at lease it is a step.

Paula, December 14th 2017

 

A Signal To Society

On November 24th, 2017, I was watching the RTE news when a relation to the pensioner siblings Willie, Flora and Chrissie Creed who suffered a brutal attack by three men who broke into their home in rural Ireland. The relative spoke about his feelings on the combined 46-year sentence the perpetrators received.  He said that he was extremely happy and believed that the sentence sent out a clear statement that society would not tolerate these crimes. 

When I watched the man speaking I couldn’t help but compare the poor sentencing policies we appear to have in relation to sex offences and how society does anything but send out a message that we will not tolerate these particular crimes. 

In an article written by Donal O’Keefe www.thejournal.ie in July of 2017, he reported on the case of Magnus Meyer Hustveit who had confessed to regularly raping his girlfriend for over one year while she slept.  The Judge Mr Patrick Mc Carthy actually said before suspending the entire seven-year sentence that if it had not been for Hustveit’s confession there might not have been a prosecution at all. 

Why as a society are we not outraged by Judges that are afforded the rights to pass sentencing on crimes that they clearly have no idea of the lifelong impacts they have on their victims. 

The Irish Times also reported on the case of former Christian Brother teacher, James Treacy who received a 3.5-year sentence for what was reported as barbaric sexual assaults on boys in his class. 

On October 24th 2017 in a highly published case of Tom Humphries a former Irish Times Journalist the Judge Karen O’Connor showed inappropriate empathy when handing down a 2.5 year sentence of which Humphries will serve one year, seven months, and seven days for defilement of a child and grooming her for two years when she was only 14 years old. 

Again on November 15th, 2017 the Irish Times reported on a case of David Radford who received a 3 and a half year sentence for sexual assault. David had 15 previous convictions, three of which had been for sexually assaulting women in random attacks dating back as far as 2010 when he was only 14 years old. Another example of a Judge having no idea of what he is doing for the victim of the perpetrator. 

My point in highlighting these cases is to demonstrate the urgent need for Judges and all who manage sexual abuse cases to take part in mandatory training on the crimes of abuse and its complexities. It is not only vital that they understand the damage they cause by sending out such lenient sentences to the victims but also the perpetrators. The 14-year-old who comes in front of the courts needs counselling to ensure that the cycle of abuse stops. By either suspending or handing down such ridiculous sentences the judicial system can be accurately accused of colluding or at the very least supporting those who prey on children. 

We are all equally responsible for allowing this behaviour to continue by staying quiet and if we want a society that values our children we must speak out. If we can take to the streets because of the unjust call for paying water taxes surely we can do something to demonstrate our outrage at the systems that allow messages to be sent out that if you harm a child you can expect a slap on the wrist at best. 

by Paula November 30th 2017

 

 

 

 

 

What Messages Are We Sending Our Children?

We would like to respond to yesterday’s sentencing of a 30 year- old man who received two life sentences for repeatedly sexually abusing and raping two young children from Athlone.  We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to the families who must be in turmoil and hope they receive all the support they need to move on with their lives as we understand this is both a confusing and painful time.

Is there a negative impact to anonymity?

It was very interesting to hear that there was no consideration given to the perpetrator for his cooperation and guilty plea, and rightly so. However, shouldn’t this same thinking be afforded to perpetrators of adult survivors that come before the courts, as the reality is, their victims were also child victims?

When people in media find it too disturbing to not only talk but to think about this crime, what chance have we got to ever highlight and eradicate child sexual abuse?   We are aware of the discomfort around this subject, but would like to challenge media to recognise that as uncomfortable as it is, this attitude does not support victims.  It is the responsibility of media to educate themselves on the subject of abuse in order to do the victims justice.

Although it is absolutely understandable that the court asked for reporting restrictions due to the families concern that their children will be identified, we need to note that this sends a very strong message that this crime must continue to be shrouded in secrecy.  It also highlights that this belief is held, not only by the few but by society at large.

Again although we can understand the victims need to move on with their lives, it is quite concerning to know, we are sending mixed messages to our children. On one hand, we are asking them to tell somebody, and at the same time, we are being asked to keep it private.  This only succeeds in keeping the crime underground. Consider if this was any other crime against children would the same rules apply?

The fact the children spoke up, were believed and their claims acted on, is a very good sign that we as a nation are doing something right.  However, the call for anonymity around this crime, maybe saying something completely different. As survivors of this crime, our concerns are that in an effort to protect the victims from the media, requesting anonymity sends a clear message to all victims that this crime is shameful.  Secrecy and silence are at the root of this crime so by not openly discussing it, we are feeding into the paradigm of concealment. We must ask ourselves, who are we really protecting?

We are not suggesting for one moment that this becomes the conversation over the garden wall, but more that the stigma attached to this crime, should rest with the perpetrator, not the victim.   He should be the only one hanging his head in shame.

The Kavanagh Sisters – 4th March 2014

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