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
Pope’s former envoy under arrest over child abuse charges
Posted: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 10:21
Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, the highest ranking Catholic to be investigated over child abuse, is now under house arrest at the Vatican pending a criminal trial following accusations of the sexual abuse of minors in the Dominican Republic (DR). It would be the first such trial, with the Pope keen to be seen to be treating child abuse with vigour.
Wesolowski was secretly recalled earlier this year from the DR where he was the Papal Nuncio following widely publicised accusations of him having sexually abused boys. He underwent a canonical, as opposed to criminal, trial at the Vatican which concluded he should be defrocked. Nevertheless the well-connected Wesolowski, ordained both as a priest and a bishop by St. John Paul II, was seen in June walking freely in a street in Rome. An international arrest warrant has reportedly been issued for a fellow Polish cleric thought to have been assisting him in the DR with the procurement of minors.
His case is a huge embarrassment to Vatican at the highest levels as a papal representative accused of having actively participated in child abuse.
The National Secular Society drew Wesolowski's case to the attention of the Children's and Torture Committees at the United Nations, who later raised it with the Holy See. A recent article in the New York Times featured graphic details of the accusations against Wesolowski, including of the boys being bribed, one even with medicine for his epilepsy. The evidence appeared uncharacteristically to unnerve the Vatican and appeared to prompt an almost immediate statement that diplomatic immunity was no longer claimed, so Wesolowski might also face trials elsewhere.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: "The Pope himself realises that he and the Church will be judged by the way this case is handled. He should arrange for Wesolowski to be tried in the DR or Poland. A criminal trial in the Vatican seems pointless, given the likely absence of key witnesses and a distrust of the objectivity of the Vatican, hardly used to conducting such trials."
NSS calls for Nigerian ‘witch hunter’ to be denied entry to the UK
Posted: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 11:23
The National Secular Society has called on the Home Secretary to deny a controversial Pentecostal Nigerian 'witch hunter' pastor entry into the UK.
David Oyedepo is due to address a Winners Chapel International convention in Dartford on 13-16 August. In a letter to the Home Secretary the National Secular Society argued that preventing Mr Oyedepo from entering the country is a necessary step to tackle child abuse linked to faith or belief.
UPDATE 15/8/14:
Unconfirmed reports say that Pastor David Oyedepo has been barred from entering the United Kingdom by The Home Office.
A source at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport has stated that the barring of Oyedepo, who holds a 'C' Visa that allows him entry into the UK for ten years, was communicated to airlines via an 'Airline Alert' on Saturday, 9 August, 2014.
In 2011 Mr Oyedepo was captured on video assaulting a young girl at one of his ministration events in Nigeria. After accusing the girl of being a witch, she can be heard saying she is a "witch for Jesus". Mr Oyedepo then slaps her around the face and denounces her as evil.
According to a CNN report, in 2013, Cameroon's President Paul Biya ordered the closure of nearly 100 churches citing criminal practices organised by Pentecostal pastors that threatened the nation's security. A Government official told CNN that the group's pastors had "outstretched their liberty" by "faking miracles" and "killing citizens" in their churches.
The same report also states that on 11 August 2013, a 9-year-old Christian girl collapsed and died during a prayer session in a Winners' Chapel in Bamenda. The girl's mother, Mih Theresa, told CNN that the pastor intended to "cast out the numerous demons" that were in control of her daughter's life. The report also refers to pastors dissuading people from seeking medical treatment or forbidding the taking of medication, with apparently lethal consequences. The pastors, however, claim the closures are to suppress criticism of the Government.
In 2006 a Government report – Child Abuse Linked to Accusations of "Possession" and "Witchcraft" – highlighted the risk of abuse against children in Britain accused of being witches.
Recent guidance written by the Metropolitan police advises social workers that "children believed to be possessed by evil spirits or believed to be witches are at clear and immediate risk of significant harm".
Although cases of child abuse linked to a belief in spirit possession or witchcraft are uncommon in the UK, such abuse can lead to extreme physical and emotional abuse and to child deaths. The cases of Victoria Climbie, Kristy Bamu and Ikpomwosa, whose torso was recovered from the Thames, were all child deaths linked to this belief system.
David Oyedepo Ministries International website makes clear that child "disobedience" should be regarded as a sign of "witchcraft". It states:
"As far as God is concerned, disobedience is as terrible as witchcraft. 1 Samuel 15:23a says: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. May God not catch you as a witch. His Word also says, "Do not suffer a witch to live" (Exodus 22:18). If you are not bringing up your children in the way they should go, you are cutting short the number of your days. Receive grace from God now, to be obedient to this commandment on child training in Jesus' name. …"
Bishop Oyedepo, founded Winners' Chapel in 1981 after claiming to have had an 18 hour vision from God. The Church has since become a global network of churches with congregations in 34 countries and Forbes estimates his worth at $150 million. Oyedepo's UK church has been the subject of an investigation by the Charity Commission over reports that it misappropriated about £16m it received as tithes from its members between 2008 and 2011.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: "Those being denounced as "possessed", particularly children, are in great, sometimes mortal, danger. Denying Mr Oyedepo entry would send a powerful signal to pastors and churches that "witch hunting" will not be tolerated in the UK."
