Christian churches can successfully help victims of child abuse inflicted by church leaders if they act in the right way, said a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) academic, who will speak at a seminar this Friday (May 21).
Dr Jodi Death (pronounced Deeth), a lecturer from QUT's School of Justice, said since the early 1980's, Christian churches around the world had been increasingly scrutinised for their management of child sexual abuse by church leaders.
She said forgiveness could be empowering for victims who were on the journey to recovery, but their cases must be handled with care by the church involved.
"It mustn't be demanded of victims that they forgive their abusers, as is sometimes the case," Dr Death said.
"Forgiveness has potential to help people. It can help them to move on in their lives and let go of the past, but only if they have forgiven in an empowering way."
Dr Death will discuss her research at the free School of Justice Seminar Series this Friday at QUT's Gardens Point campus.
The research draws in interviews Dr Death conducted with 15 Australian Church leaders who have been identified as pro-active in addressing child sexual abuse by leaders within their denominations.
Dr Death said the common topic which arose from these interviews related to power and forgiveness having been identified as central to both appropriate and inappropriate management of child sexual abuse by Church leaders.
She said perpetrators could be forgiven and embraced back into the church, but must never work in any situation that puts them in contact with children.
"My participants often compared perpetrators to a recovering alcoholic, who you would never give another drink to," she said.
"Church leaders who have abused children must never work with children again."
Dr Death said victims' spirituality was sometimes used against them in eliciting forgiveness, for example, by saying that because Jesus Christ sacrificed himself to forgive others' sins, so must the victim.
"There are different types of forgiveness," she said.
"Most churches want a solid, defined meaning that ties with religious constructs, a model of forgiveness usually based on God who forgives unconditionally because of the sacrifice of his son.
"But for victims, recovery is a journey to find a place where forgiveness is empowering for them. It cannot be demanded or blackmailed from them."
Dr Death said all church leaders, from ordained priests to volunteer leaders, should be held accountable for their actions.
She said abuse by any church leader had significant spiritual, as well as emotional and psychological, impact on its victims.
"To victims, being abused by someone ordained by God or chosen to do God's duties was akin to being abused by God," she said.
"Some victims even perceived their abuse as ordained by God.
"As spirituality is so core to a person's identity, the impact can be devastating.
"Many victims reject the church, while many others remain in the church and spend a life time disillusioned or susceptible to further spiritual abuse."
Dr Death said in order to help victims, the church must adequately address the behaviour of perpetrators and support victims in their journey to recovery, while developing new ways to describe forgiveness not based exclusively on sacrifice.
What: Talk Child sexual abuse in the church
When: 1pm, Friday, May 21
Where: School of Justice Conference Room, Room C412, Level 4 C Block, Gardens Point campus
Media contact: Rachael Wilson, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1150 or rachael.wilson@qut.edu.au.
