Catholic Church "Lacking Leadership" to Deal with Child Sex Abuse, Professor Says

The Australian
April 4, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/catholic-church-lacking-leadership-to-deal-with-child-sex-abuse-professor-says/story-fngburq5-1226612470866

A LACK of decisive leadership within the Catholic church has thwarted a cultural shift which would better address problems of child sexual abuse, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

Professor Caroline Taylor, social justice foundation chair at Edith Cowan University, today told the Victorian child abuse inquiry that there had not been significant change within the church hierarchy despite the raft of allegations revealed over the past five years.

"Unfortunately I don't see anything that would have me jumping for joy," said Professor Taylor who has specialised in research relating to sexual offences.

"I think that there has been no leadership to take this forward, that is what's missing.

"There hasn't been that leadership that can grab the community, take the community forward with them and say that we need to have an open discussion, we need to have an exchange of views and opinions."

The Victorian parliamentary inquiry examining how religious and non-state organisations have handled child sexual abuse claims today resumed, a day after the opening of the royal commission on institutional response to the issue.

The Victorian inquiry is due to report by the end of September, ahead of the royal Commission's interim report mid next year.

Professor Taylor said she believed offenders were still grooming children for sexual abuse at an "alarming rate".

"I don't see why it would have stopped overnight," she said. "I haven't seen the kind of cultural shift in the church that would cause me to say there would be no more opportunity for anyone to be able to groom a child."

Professor Taylor said the clergy often targeted children of particularly devout families because they knew the child would be less likely to report the abuse, and that if the abuse was reported, the child's account may not be believed.

"They targeted families that were particularly devout," Professor Taylor said.

"They felt that it would offer protection."

There were instances where children had reported the abuse only to have the parent not believe them, Professor Taylor told the Victorian inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.

"Non-disclosure and delayed disclosure are the key features needed by offenders in order to both avoid detection and to continue with the abuse," she told the inquiry on Thursday.

"The offender, being a priest or religious, is often viewed by the child as a representation of God and therefore often the offender has omniscient power and the word of the offender - read here as grooming - that is employed by the offender carries considerable power and fear for the child."

The inquiry continues this afternoon with evidence from Ansvar Insurance, which covers a large number of religious organisations.