Survivor of Abuse Helped Bring It to Light

By Liam Migdail-Smith
Reading Eagle
June 2, 2016

http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/liam-migdail-smith-survivor-of-abuse-helped-bring-it-to-light#.V1E3VfmLS00

Paul Saviano among priests' victims in Boston child-sex scandal

As Boston Globe reporters shed national attention on child sexual abuse, Phil Saviano was giving fellow abuse survivors a place to talk.

He oversaw online discussion boards for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, where people could tell their stories. As leader of the group's New England chapter, he was a key source in the Globe series that revealed abuse by Boston-area Catholic priests was systematically concealed.

After the 2002 series, more survivors came forward to talk about their abuse.

"There was proof that people would care about it," Saviano said.

He said it was almost as if the series from the Globe gave people permission to talk about their abuse.

Now, Saviano's seeing another wave of focus on abuse and of survivors coming forward. It's driven by what he refers to as "the power of Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo." "Spotlight," Hollywood's account of the Globe investigation, won the Academy Award for best picture.