Religious organisations and communities are frequent targets of abusers.
Religious institutions are often well-placed and strongly motivated to cover up incidents of sexual and physical abuse.
We work to hold these organisations to account and get justice for abuse victims and survivors.
Many religious organisations enjoy a close relationship with the establishment and tend to see themselves as above the law. This can increase the risk of abuse, prevent perpetrators from facing justice, and impede efforts to support and compensate victims and survivors of abuse.
Those intent on abuse are often attracted to religious institutions. Such organisations give access to, and sometimes extreme control over, numerous children and vulnerable adults.
When abuse does occur, religious organisations often act to protect the reputation of the institution above the rights of the victim. They may pressure the victim to stay silent and move the perpetrator to somewhere unaware of their reputation.
Many religious institutions also have influence and connections that enable them to evade justice and scrutiny, often for decades.
All forms of abuse, be they sexual, physical or psychological, can cause serious harm. Victims of abuse in religious settings have suffered physical and mental health problems, including addiction, self-harm and suicide.
Abuse can take place in any religious setting. That's why we work at the national and international level to hold religious organisations to account for safeguarding failings, and to ensure victims and survivors can get justice.
Take action!
1. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
2. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support our work to end abuse in religion settings
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
CofE’s handling of abuse claims hampered by “culture of deference”
Posted: Thu, 6 Oct 2022 17:28
A "culture of deference" contributed to the mishandling of Church of England abuse claims, a review has found.
A three-year review of abuse allegations in the CofE found 383 new cases, with priests the most common perpetrators and children the main victims, according to a report published yesterday.
Most cases date back only to the 2000s and 2010s.
The review, which aimed to identify institutional failings in safeguarding and handling of abuse allegations, was the second carried out by the CofE, after the first in 2007 was found inadequate.
It found the CofE suffered a "culture of deference" towards bishops and other senior members and a "longstanding ethos where individuals felt unable to challenge back over safeguarding concerns".
It gave examples of a culture of protectionism which "allows alleged and convicted perpetrators to work and worship unchecked, failure to listen and act, disbelief and in some cases diverting blame on to the victim of abuse".
The review found allegations "were often dealt with informally, without appropriate investigations or records", and there were incidences where "belief in forgiveness and the right to worship outweighed safeguarding considerations".
It said there were instances of bias, including "misogyny, sexism and attitudes relating to women in the church, especially as ordained priests", in addition to same-sex relationships.
The CofE was also criticised for its stance on gay people this week by Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, who said the Church is "actively pursuing a campaign of discrimination" against lesbian and gay people, and questioned whether the "unique privileges" enjoyed by the Church are sustainable.
His criticism follows the Church barring the late archbishop Desmond Tutu's daughter, an ordained Anglican priest, from officiating at her godfather's funeral last month because she is in a same-sex marriage.
The NSS launched a campaign in August encouraging the public to write to their MPs and call for disestablishment in the wake of archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby affirming same-sex relationships are sinful at an international Anglican conference this year.
NSS: "Disestablishment can't come soon enough"
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "These appalling findings reveal the extent to which prioritising religious agendas and hierarchies has led to the mishandling of hundreds of cases of alleged child abuse in the Church of England.
"Disturbingly, most of these new cases were relatively recent. The Church evidently cannot be trusted to mark its own homework, making the case for mandatory reporting laws ever stronger.
"But there need to be broader questions regarding the Church's established status. Its atrocious record on abuse and its institutional homophobia, both of which are connected to its religiosity, make a mockery of any claims to special spiritual or moral insight. Disestablishment can't come soon enough."
UN tells Chile to examine clerical child abuse following NSS report
Posted: Wed, 22 Jun 2022 15:57
A United Nations committee has called on Chile to investigate all cases of child abuse in the Catholic Church following an intervention from the National Secular Society.
In its concluding observations on child rights in Chile, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has urged Chile to establish "an independent, impartial, adequately funded truth commission to examine all cases of abuse of children in institutional settings, including within the Catholic church".
In April the NSS called on the UNCRC to recommend an official inquiry into institutional responses to child abuse, as part of the committee's upcoming review of each state party's record on children's rights.
The NSS said Chile had not responded to the UNCRC's request, prompted by an earlier NSS submission, for more information on developing strategies for preventing sexual abuse of children, including within the Catholic Church.
The names of around 360 people involved with the Church accused of child abuse have been recorded by an abuse survivors' network, and 33 religious orders are implicated.
The NSS said Catholic clerics appeared to enjoy "near impunity" from criminal law regarding abuse allegations, an endemic problem in South America.
NSS comment
NSS president Keith Porteous Wood said: "This is a welcome statement from the committee.
"The specific reference to the Catholic Church is encouraging because it is almost certainly the worst perpetrator of institutional child abuse in Chile. We are optimistic of the UNCRC's recommendation bearing fruit as Chile has a radical young new president and we have asked campaigners in Chile to follow this up politically.
"For over a decade, the NSS has submitted concerns about clerical abuse of minors in numerous countries around the world when they are being reviewed every five years by the UNCRC. The committee has increasingly taken our concerns on board. We continue to encourage the committee to hold states around the world to account where powerful religious institutions are guilty of enabling abuse."
Image: Catholic church in Chile, saramatos from Pixabay (cropped)
