Child Abuse: Seeking Balance Between Head-In-The-Sand and Hysterical-Panic
On the one hand, the Catholic Church has been accused (and found guilty in formal reports in the USA and Ireland ) of systematically turning a blind eye, covering up, and enabling child abuse. On the other, the Church is now accusing the media of stirring up international hysteria, and being disproportionate in the outcry. Similar arguments have gone back-and-forth in the Jewish community in recent months and years – including on this blog. The sexual abuse of children, even more so than physical, emotional, or neglect forms of abuse, generates a strong outcry. The sense of despair and betrayal is amplified when discovering that a family member, teacher, camp leader, coach, day care worker, doctor or religious leader perpetuated the abuse. It is estimated that 85% of victims of child sexual abuse knew they attackers (see: http://futureofchildren.org / futureofchildren/publications / docs/19_02_08.pdf ) When men-of-the-cloth are involved as either a perpetrator, or ...