Boston Globe Reporter Headlines Child Abuse Conference

Democrat and Chronicle
April 28, 2017

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/04/27/sacha-pfeffer-bivona-child-abuse-boston/100968620/

A reporter who was part of The Boston Globe investigative team to uncover the Catholic church's cover-up of clergy sex abuse is the keynote speaker at a child abuse conference in Rochester.

"If someone doesn't have the courage to speak up, problems will persist," said Sacha Pfeiffer, who was part of the paper's Spotlight investigative team than won a Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2003. The same team was featured in the 2015 film by the same name, which won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture. "The damage that something like sexual abuse does plays out through your entire life."

More than 750 people from across the country are taking part in the two-day conference at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center, said Mary Whittier, executive director for the Bivona Child Advocacy Center in Rochester.

The summit features workshops for child abuse experts ranging from cyber crime, technology and trauma assessment and treatment.

"Our goal is for people nationally to recognize the blue ribbon (which represents child abuse) the same way they recognize the pink ribbon," which represents breast care awareness, Whittier said. "Unlike breast cancer and other diseases, child abuse is 100 percent preventable."

Pfeiffer said the investigative project taught her the importance of questioning authority.

"There was a time when I believe Boston was the most Catholic city in the country, when at least half the population was Catholic," she said. "There was enormous deference to the Catholic Church."

Had the newspaper tried to do the story a decade or two earlier, Pfeiffer said she believed the paper would have gotten enormous push back from citizens, clergy and politicians.

"Over time, deference to the church has eroded and I think that made the public more willing to read these stories and realize 'I can't blame the messenger,'" she said. "People were ready to hear it and understand how outrageous it was."

She said the team was also concerned about potentially revictimizing survivors.

"There was an enormous amount of shame and embarrassment and stigma associated with any kind of sex abuse, let alone being sexually abused by a priest," she said. "We relied on people who were brave enough to be some of the first ones who would come forward to talk about this. And these people emboldened others to come forward...I give them huge credit for that."

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