CHURCH "Rubbing Salt into Victim's Wounds"

9 News
March 1, 2013

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/03/01/18/01/church-rubbing-salt-into-victim-s-wounds

The Catholic Church's processes of dealing with sex abuse victims often makes mental and emotional wounds worse, a psychologist has told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry.

Dr Joseph Poznanski told the inquiry into sex abuse within religious and other organisations that victims often came to him expressing despair and helplessness after dealing with the church's compensation process.

He said the church's psychiatric assessments would downplay the effect of sexual abuse on victims.

"In the majority of cases this is more like salt to festering wound," he told the inquiry in Melbourne on Friday.

Dr Poznanski said church representatives would often be flanked by lawyers and insurers at meetings with victims, and failed to check on their wellbeing or offer pastoral care.

He said the church did not seem to want to know about the array of psychological illnesses of victims.

The inquiry resumes in Melbourne on Monday.