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
Anglican archbishops severely criticised at abuse inquiry
Posted: Thu, 4 Jul 2019 14:57
Senior figures in the Church of England including the archbishops of Canterbury and York have faced severe criticism at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
This week the inquiry heard that 24 disciplinary complaints were made against bishops within the C of E and noted in a 2018 report. All but six outstanding cases were dismissed or subject to no action from archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu.
Welby and Sentamu are the two most senior figures in the C of E.
One unnamed witness to the inquiry also described sending 17 letters to Welby's office about the response to abuse from the bishop of Durham and the then bishop of Truro. The witness said the complaints were "just ignored, completely".
National Secular Society vice-president Richard Scorer, acting in his capacity as a lawyer representing survivors, criticised Sentamu for emphasising the concept of forgiveness in a speech on safeguarding. He noted that evidence from earlier IICSA hearings, into abuse in the C of E diocese of Chichester, had shown that "notions of forgiveness could be misused to shield and protect abusers".
He also reiterated a call for external mechanisms to protect victims of abuse within the church, including independent oversight of its safeguarding procedures and a law requiring the reporting of suspected institutional child abuse to the statutory authorities.
He highlighted the reported loss of C of E archives relevant to abuse investigations in 2015 and said oversight of safeguarding should not be left to "gentleman amateurs".
David Greenwood, a lawyer representing victims of abuse, called the Anglican Church "a place where paedophiles have good reason to feel safe" and "a thoroughly disreputable organization" that "cannot be trusted".
Greenwood also accused the church of "trying to buy time until IICSA goes away" in its response to criticism of its safeguarding structure.
The bishop of Buckingham, Alan Wilson, was highly critical of current safeguarding practices in the C of E. In particular he criticised the discipline measure for dealing with formal complaints against members of the clergy, saying it effectively requires bishops to be both judges and pastors.
He added that a list which records penalties imposed under the measure, and which is maintained at Lambeth Palace, had not been updated or distributed since August 2017.
Meanwhile on Wednesday the bishop of Chester, Peter Forster, admitted that he allowed a vicar to continue working despite knowing he had been the subject of an abuse allegation.
Forster also admitted that he had blocked a lifetime ban for a paedophile priest, Ian Hughes, who was jailed for harbouring thousands of pictures of child pornography. He defended his actions on the grounds that Hughes was relatively young, had an "excellent previous record" and was "entirely penitent".
The NSS has long campaigned to protect victims of clerical child abuse and to challenge the privileges afforded to religious institutions which create cover for abuse.
Image of John Sentamu (right) via Flickr, © York Minster [CC BY-SA 2.0]
NSS questions NSPCC’s child abuse guidance for 'Jewish communities'
Posted: Tue, 2 Jul 2019 15:19
The National Secular Society has challenged guidance from a child abuse charity which withholds and alters information and advice for those raising concerns about abuse within "Jewish communities".
The NSS has written to the NSPCC over its two versions of a document entitled Worried about a child? – a generic one and another specifically designed for "Jewish communities".
The NSS said changes to the Jewish version would undermine the reporting of abuse and exacerbate obstacles recently identified in an official inquiry's report on child sexual abuse in religious institutions.
The Jewish version, which was "informed by members of the Jewish community as well as statutory child protection agencies", encourages children to report concerns to religious authorities along with statutory ones.
It says those with allegations of abuse within "a synagogue, shul, yeshiva, school, centre, youth camp or other organisation" should report them to "the person responsible for safeguarding children in that organisation".
It says the "next steps" taken by those with concerns "may include speaking to your rabbi". Elsewhere it says "your rabbi, family doctor, school nurse, health visitor, or the person responsible for safeguarding in the school may be able to help".
There is no equivalent of any of these lines in the generic version.
Both versions advise those with concerns to "immediately report" what they have been told to the police, children's services or the NSPCC helpline.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said encouraging children to approach rabbis and other religious officials would "risk creating a barrier which is likely to hinder the reporting of abuse to the statutory authorities".
The NSS's letter highlighted a recent report from the IICSA inquiry's Truth Project, which found that witnesses were less likely to report child sexual abuse to the statutory authorities when it took place in religious institutions.
The IICSA report said attempts to protect religious institutions and perpetrators meant survivors were "often disbelieved, discredited and not supported".
The report found that child protection training messages had been "altered" in religious institutions to fit the institutions' agenda. The NSS's letter expressed concern that a similar process may have taken place in the creation of the NSPCC's document.
The IICSA report's witnesses were more likely to fear retribution from religious institutions than non-religious ones. The report also found a link between the lack of reporting of abuse and sentiments which religious authorities encourage, such as shame or guilt.
The Jewish version of the NSPCC's guidance also omits and alters information which is included in the generic version.
A section about what to do if a child is worried about a friend has been removed from the Jewish version, with a section entitled "Helping children protect themselves" included in its place.
Some references to the support service ChildLine have been removed from the Jewish version. One reference in the Jewish version says adults could tell children about ChildLine "if you're comfortable" doing so. The equivalent line in the generic version simply tells adults to "give them the contact details" for the service.
All direct references to online technology, including references to online grooming and the use of email to report abuse, have been removed.
The Jewish guidance does not include a list of support groups which were given in the generic version, instead directing complainants towards a list of faith-based organisations which the NSPCC has not endorsed.
The NSS said this ran contrary to the recommendations of the IICSA report, which said "external and specially approved agencies" should deliver training, education and support around child abuse, "particularly for closed minority religious communities".
The NSPCC's Jewish document omits a line saying the definition of neglect includes "leaving a child at home alone for long periods" and a note that "having unexplained presents" could be a sign of sexual abuse. It also does not include a reference to parents who misuse drugs in a section about children who are particularly vulnerable.
In a reference to sexually explicit behaviour which could be an indicator that a child has been sexually abused, the phrase "towards adults" has been added to the Jewish document.
The NSS also raised concerns that the document makes no reference to abuse that is specific to the context of some Jewish community institutions, such as that which takes place in unregistered schools.
In the NSS's letter, Mr Evans said providing substantially different advice to religious groups served to "reinforce" barriers between "isolated, closed communities and wider society".
Explaining his decision to write the letter, Mr Evans said: "This guidance was no doubt created with the best of intentions. But when it comes to the protection of children all sections of society should be held to the same standards.
"Whilst it may sometimes be legitimate to tailor guidance to specific communities, the advice should not be altered to meet religious demands. Applying such double standards will inevitably create barriers to abuse being disclosed, perpetrators facing justice, and, ultimately, children being kept safe from harm."
The pressure group Mandate Now, which calls for a law requiring the reporting of suspected child abuse to the statutory authorities, said the NSPCC's guidance was a reflection of government failures.
Mandate Now's founder Tom Perry said: "The inconsistency of approach to safeguarding is a structural weakness permitted by the 'bag of bits' which is passed off by government as a safeguarding framework capable of functioning. Instead it fails children and good adults who care for them."
Earlier this year the NSS called on the NSPCC to reconsider its position on non-therapeutic male circumcision after it defended the practice.
