Sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions

Abstract

Sexual violence against children remains a global public health problem. The health sector has an opportunity and responsibility to be part of the multisector collaboration to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of minors. The following article presents a critical analysis of hitherto published empirical studies that examine the extent and variety of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions. The analysis consists of 40 studies concerning the Catholic Church and 13 studies concerning other institutions not belonging to the Catholic Church. We report the characteristics of the offenders and the offenses. Furthermore, the devastating consequences for children abused by members of powerful institutions are discussed. Knowledge on the role of institutions in sexual abuse of minors and psychological distress following these experiences is necessary to point the way to improvements in prevention and intervention strategies. This literature review is part of a larger research project on the sexual abuse of minors in the context of the Catholic Church in Germany (MHG Study) that is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, and sociologists and is funded by the German Bishops' Conference.

Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests, Deacons, and Male Members of Religious Orders in the Authority of the German Bishops’ Conference 1946–2014

“…Our study also shows comparable results concerning the characteristics of the victims. While females were more frequently victimized in other circumstances (Bolen & Scannapieco, 1999), all studies point toward a higher share of male victims in the context of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church (Dressing, Dölling, Hermann, Horten, Kruse, et al, 2017). In the German sample, 62% of persons affected by sexual abuse were male.…”

“…A study from Australia reported an even higher prevalence of accused Catholic Priests at 7.0% (Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 2017). So far, European studies have only reported absolute numbers of accused clerics (Dressing, Dölling, Hermann, Horten, Kruse, et al, 2017). A Dutch study (Deetman et al, 2011) reported 800 accused clerics and ecclesiastical staff and 774 victims.…”

Sexueller Missbrauch an Kindern – Entwicklungen im Hell- und Dunkelfeld seit 1953 und Implikationen für das Gesundheitswesen

“…Weiterhin liegt eine systematische Literaturübersicht vor, deren Ziel es war, einen Überblick über die bisherigen empirischen Befunde zum sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern und Jugendlichen im institutionellen Kontext, insbesondere in der katholischen Kirche, zu gewinnen [16].…”

Sexueller Missbrauch von Minderjährigen im Verantwortungsbereich der katholischen Kirche: Institutionelle Spezifika

“…B. in Schulen, Sportvereinen oder im Verantwortungsbereich von Kirchen [1]. Bezüglich des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Minderjährigen im institutionellen Kontext finden sich insbesondere Studien zur katholischen Kirche, andere Institutionen sind bisher weniger gründlich untersucht worden [2]. Das Ausmaß des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern in der katholischen Kirche Deutschlands wurde im Rahmen der von der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz ausgeschriebenen Studie "Sexueller Missbrauch an Minderjährigen durch katholische Priester, Diakone und männliche Ordensangehörige im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz" untersucht, die entsprechend der beteiligten Forschungsinstitute aus Mannheim, Heidelberg und Gießen das Akronym MHG-Studie trägt.…”