UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times
[The Foundation of Abuse – Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command]
by Tim Wyatt
Posted: 08 Nov 2013
CHILDREN within hierarchical institutions – including churches – are particularly at risk of being sexually abused, a new report has warned.
The report, The Foundations of Abuse, was compiled by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command, part of the new National Crime Agency. It analyses institutional sexual abuse of children in the UK. The Church of England was among the organisations consulted.
The authors of the report state that “There is something about institutions, as environments for child sexual abuse, which appears to aggravate the vulnerability of potential victims, and amplifies the power over them that abusers can exercise.”
Rigid, hierarchical, often male-dominated and closed organisations can subsume people into a structure where they feel unable to challenge abuse, the report says. “There is a complete submission to authority, leaving individuals powerless and blind to their rights.
“In pursuance of the institution’s goals, staff are unable to see signs of abuse, or, if they do, are fearful for their careers if they report it.”
Institutional sexual abuse of children is a product of a “malign climate” within organisations which leaves an offender’s propensity to abuse unchecked, the report suggests.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.