DUBLIN (IRELAND)
RTÉ - Raidió Teilifís Éireann [Dublin, Ireland]
September 3, 2024
By Ailbhe Conneely
[Click on the following links to view the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders, by Mary O’Toole, SC, June 2024, released September 3, 2024:
Title Page, Acknowledgements, Glossary, Table of Contents
Volume 1: Executive Summary – Introduction – What Survivors Have Told Us
Volume 2: The Extent of Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Irish Schools – The Context of Sexual Abuse in Irish Schools
Volume 3: Lessons of Past Inquiries into Child Abuse
Volume 4: The Current Child Protection Framework – Implementing Outcomes Sought by Survivors – Recommendations Based on Survivors’ Views
Volume 5: Appendices, including lists of total allegations and total accused persons organized by Religious Order Schools, Special Schools, Community Schools, and Christian Brothers Data.]
The scoping inquiry into allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders has found that there were 2,395 allegations of sexual abuse in respect of 308 schools recorded by the religious orders that ran those schools.
The allegations were made in respect of 884 distinct alleged abusers.
The inquiry has recommended that the Government consider a redress scheme for survivors of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools.
It has also recommended that the Government approach relevant religious orders about contributing to redress.
The religious orders’ records indicate that over half of the 884 people accused of historical sexual abuse are known to be deceased and there is a particularly high number of allegations in special schools.
17 special schools recorded 590 allegations involving 190 alleged abusers.
The number of schools with allegations of historical sexual abuse also shows that such allegations were not confined to schools in any particular geographic or social category.
The report outlines how people were invited to register their interest in participating in the process, which was open to all former students of day and boarding schools run by religious orders.
205 people – the overwhelming majority of whom were men – completed questionnaires about their experiences.
In their questionnaire responses, survivors spoke of experiences of historical sexual abuse in schools in at least 22 counties in Ireland, naming over 80 schools, run by 24 religious orders.
The incidents of sexual abuse were, in the main, described as having occurred between the early 1960s and the early 1990s, with the highest number of reported incidents occurring in the early to mid-1970s.
Of those completing questionnaires, 182 were assessed as falling within the scoping inquiry’s terms of reference and invited to the second stage.
149 participants opted to take part in the second stage of the process, where they could choose to give an interview to a trauma-informed facilitator or provide a written submission.
137 participants completed in-person interviews and 12 participants provided written submissions.
Accounts of victims and survivors
The accounts given by survivors of their experiences of sexual abuse in schools set out in the report are distressing and often harrowing to read.
In some cases, this was the first time they had told the full extent of their experience of sexual abuse and its impact on their lives.
The report says that for many participants, their stories explain that there was no place or sense of safety in their schools or indeed, their lives, as a result of their experiences of sexual abuse.
Appalling childhood sexual abuse is described by participants and is reported as occurring in various locations including in classrooms, dormitories, sports facilities, and at musical and extra-curricular activities.
Some reported being sexually abused in their own homes by adults associated with their school who had gained their family’s trust, only to abuse that trust egregiously.
Participants described being sexually abused in the private offices and residential quarters of school staff
and religious order members.
Many spoke of being sexually abused in the presence of other children or adults, and others reported being sexually abused when alone with a teacher, priest or religious brother, other school staff or a visitor to their school.
Many recounted that the sexual abuse had been ongoing, whilst others said it had occurred randomly, or followed a period of grooming, and was often reported as having been accompanied by ferocious violence.
Participants described being molested, stripped naked, raped and drugged amidst an atmosphere of terror and silence.
Many spoke of their strong belief that what was happening was so pervasive that it could not possibly have gone unnoticed by other staff, and the members and leadership of the religious orders.
Many participants were very clear in their belief that there had been a cover-up in their schools or by the religious order and some believed there was collusion between some institutions of the State and the Church.
Participants spoke of their fear, shock and naivety about the sexual abuse when it occurred.
They described how it evoked in them feelings of shame, responsibility, isolation, powerlessness and secrecy. Participants described trying to avoid the sexual abuse, avoiding their favourite activities, their friends and ultimately their school.
Some described how, as children, they began to experience mental health problems and adopted unhealthy coping mechanisms including the misuse of alcohol and drugs, and how some of those problems followed them into adulthood.
Many described their confusion about why it happened to them and some said that other children sometimes tried to warn them about risky situations or certain staff.
Repercussions
Participants spoke of their confusion about their own developing sexuality, and also of declining academic performance which limited their opportunities in education and employment later on.
Many participants said they felt the power of the Catholic Church permeated their lives in every way and, for the majority, they felt there was no one they could tell, including their parents.
For some this has led to lifelong estrangement or difficult family relationships. Many said their childhood stopped the day the abuse started.
As adults, participants said the impact of the sexual abuse led to serious and ongoing difficulties in relationships, mental and physical health problems, addiction issues, lost career opportunities, and damage to their sense of place and/or community.
Many described failed early intimate relationships and marriage breakdowns.
Some said that, as a result of the sexual abuse, they decided not to have children, or when they did, it impacted their parenting, with many participants describing the effects of inter-generational trauma on their families.
Many spoke with very real sadness of the impact of telling their elderly parents of their experiences.
Participants spoke of difficulties with authority figures in employment, with their long-term solution being to undertake contract work or self-employment.
Other impacts on careers included lost opportunities to go to university as a result of poor academic progress or inappropriate behaviour in employment resulting from mental health difficulties and addiction.
Some participants outlined how they had successful careers as they worked excessively, at the cost of their close relationships, to distract themselves from their early trauma.
Participants spoke of emigrating and creating distances from family and friends to avoid traumatic memories.
Many described becoming alienated from religion and church-related services to the extent that some avoided attending a parent’s funeral or other family event, as they could not enter a church.
Participants frequently described a crisis in adulthood, such as a suicide attempt or time in a rehabilitation programme, as a time when their childhood experiences came to the fore for the first time and were identified as a source of their difficulties, and this realisation began the process of healing.
The majority of participants who, in later years, approached the religious order seeking acknowledgement said the encounter had not been helpful, especially where it involved a defended legal process, although a minority found the experience helpful where a sincere apology was offered with compassion and meaning.
Recommendations
Most survivors said that they wanted a statutory inquiry and most said an inquiry process that was the least adversarial possible was desirable.
The view of the inquiry team is that any inquiry process should be as inclusive as possible.
However, it pointed out that more court-like processes of a tribunal risk discouraging survivors from coming forward and would pose a greater risk of retraumatisation.
“The procedural flexibility of a commission affords the least adversarial model of inquiry, and therefore the greatest prospect of reducing the risk of retraumatisation.”
It has recommended that a Commission of Investigation pursuant to the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 be established.
It also recommended that, in early course, consideration be given by the Government to establishing a redress scheme for survivors of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by the religious orders.
“We further recommend that the Government approach the relevant religious orders about contributing to a redress scheme.”
It has also recommended that a Survivor Engagement Programme be established by the Commission in accordance with the proposed Terms of Reference of the report.