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
Catholic Church faces question from UN over handling of child abuse
Posted: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:18
The Vatican will today be questioned about its record on child sexual violence by a UN Committee.
The Holy See will face questions over its compliance with the Convention on Rights of the Child, and will be expected to answer allegations that it enabled the sexual abuse of thousands of children by protecting paedophile priests at the expense of victims.
This is the first time the Holy See has been pressed on child sexual abuse by the UN.
In July the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) published a list of detailed questions over clerical child abuse for the Holy See to address before its examination before the Committee.
In its response, the Vatican failed to answer detailed questions insisting that it was "separate and distinct" from the Roman Catholic Church, and that it was not its practice to disclose information about the religious discipline of clergy unless requested by the authorities in the country where they were serving.
Victims' groups and the National Secular Society have submitted reports to the UNCRC detailing how the Holy See has violated the core principles of Convention.The NSS was invited along with abuse survivors' groups, on the basis of written submissions, to give oral evidence to the Committee's private session in June.
Keith Porteous Wood, National Secular Society executive director, who is attending the session in Geneva, commented: "We are all motivated by concern that children all over the world have suffered from sexual and other violence perpetrated by clerics who have been shielded from justice because of the Church's power and status.
"We hope the Committee will hold the Holy See to account for its continuing shielding of abuse perpetrators from justice. Pope Francis's reputation cannot survive unless he intervenes and instructs the worldwide Church to report suspected abusers to civil authorities and hand over the evidence is holds to assist prosecutions."
Today's session will take place between 9am and 12pm and a live webcast is available here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/treaty-body-webcast-i/
Vatican ducks questions from UN on the worldwide child abuse in Catholic institutions
Posted: Tue, 3 Dec 2013 15:15
The Vatican has failed to answer detailed questions by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on cases of child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy, brothers or nuns or brought to the attention of the Holy See. These formal questions were raised as part of the review of the reports the UN Committee require states that have ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child to provide every five years.
In a formal response to the UN Committee's 'list of issues' or questions, the Holy See based its failure to answer them on the legal technicality that it is "related but separate and distinct from the Catholic Church". It added: "it is not the practice of the Holy See to disclose information on the religious discipline of members of the clergy or religious according to canon law, unless there is a related matter concerning international judicial cooperation with a State and the request by the State is made, generally, through specific procedures".
The UN Committee prefaced its questions by pointing to "the recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world, and given the scale of the abuses".
Keith Porteous Wood of the (UK) National Secular Society, which, together with victims groups, has submitted evidence about such abuse to the Committee earlier this year, commented: "Under the direct control of the Pope, the Church operates a firm 'command and control structure' over the worldwide Church, particularly over the handling of clerical rape and sexual violence offences. It requires that it is sent all records of the tens of thousands of these criminal offences, and secretes them centrally.
"The huge scale of rape and sexual violence in Catholic institutions worldwide over the last 50 years is a matter of public record, and more is still regularly being reported. The Holy See's and the Church's culpability lies in the fact that, that scale of abuse would have been hugely reduced had those in the Church been required to invariably report credible allegations and suspicions to civil authorities. Instead, there is evidence that in many cases abusers were moved by the Church to other locations where they frequently resumed their sexual violence that has ruined so many lives.
"The Holy See's brazen failure, on arcane legal technicalities, to provide the information sought by the Committee is a new low point in the Church's lamentable record over child abuse.
"Many will be disappointed and surprised by this slap in the face to both the tens if not hundreds of thousands of suffering victims and to a United Nations body.
"The Holy See, under the Pope, uses its considerable diplomatic might to promote the doctrines and the self-interest of the Catholic Church and clearly commands and controls child abuse policy in the Church worldwide, including through its own (canon) "law". It is both shameless and unacceptable for it to undermine the UN's efforts, made in the interest of protecting past and future victims, by refusing to provide the information that the UN seeks.
The Holy See's earlier report to the Committee can be read here.
This report gave rise to the Committee's "List of Issues" (questions), which can be found here.
You can read the Holy See's response to the questions here.
