UK Methodist Church Offers Apology for Past Abuse

ByCBG Reading Time: 1 minute

The Methodist Church of the UK has conducted a study to determine the extent to child abuse that occurred within the church and offered an apology for what they have found.

The UK’s Methodist Church has made a public apology after an investigation uncovered reports of nearly 2,000 alleged abusers – including 914 allegations involving sexual abuse.

An independent inquiry looked at the Church’s response to complaints and allegations dating back to 1950.

General secretary, the Revd Dr Martyn Atkins, said abuse was “a deep source of grief and shame to the Church”.

A law firm representing some of the victims welcomed the apology.

You can read the whole story in the BBC story.

Similar Posts

Link – Are Support Groups for Depression Really Helpful?

Link – Are Support Groups for Depression Really Helpful?

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

This is such an important caveat. Depression Support Groups are Helpful When They’re Good I attended a support group for abuse survivors for a short time, and it was a very bad experience for me. (I won’t get into details here, but mixing in one male survivor with a group of female survivors who had…

Sharing – 11 Factors That Increase the Risk of Child Sexual Abuse

Sharing – 11 Factors That Increase the Risk of Child Sexual Abuse

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

For example, if we know that kids who don’t understand boundaries, are lonely, live in stressful family situations, and do not have open communication with other people in their lives, are more likely to be sexually abused, what does that mean when a teen comes out and is not accepted by their family? Or when a blended family becomes dysfunctional, or a kid with disabilities is not taught boundaries but kept hidden away from others?

You have kids who are lonely, who don’t feel safe and loved, who don’t understand boundaries, etc.

If a kid who’s lonely and lacking in self esteem is at risk. And a kid who identifies as LGBTQ+ is at risk, can we stop for a minute and consider that it’s not being LGBTQ+ that is a risk factor, it’s how much more likely that kid is to be lonely and lacking in self-esteem?

And thus, the cycle continues. When it shouldn’t. We know what it is about disabled kids, kids from blended families, or LGBTQ+ kids that make them more prone to abuse, mental health issues, and suicide. It’s not their reality, it’s the responses to their reality that create the risk factors. The things that make them more likely to be loners, disconnected from family support, lacking safe adults to communicate with, etc.

So maybe we should focus on being more supportive of all kids?

And, since we’re on the topic and it is June. Happy Pride!

BBC LA Stories Episode on Sex Offenders

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

If you’re in the UK you can catch an episode of Louis Theroux LA Stories titled “Among the Sex Offenders”. Documentary. Louis Theroux spends time in the twilight world of Los Angeles’ paroled sex offenders, who live under force of tough regulations As a non UK resident I cannot watch it but if you happen…

|

Link – Child sexual abuse: A national tragedy in Pakistan

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

“As a nation, Pakistan has not paid nearly enough attention to dealing with the issue. Meanwhile, thousands of innocent lives have fallen prey to various types of abuse — including physical, psychological and even sexual.” It’s true of most countries, but it seems as if Pakistan is seeing the effects of not paying attention to…

Link – The Long Legacy of Childhood Verbal Abuse

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

“The impact of verbal aggression and abuse tends to be discounted and marginalized in our culture; there seems to be an unspoken agreement that such abuse is “only words,” as people cite the children’s rhyme: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me.” But science couldn’t be more categorical in its…

Looking at Insurance Data to Identify What Works to Prevent Abuse in an Organization

Looking at Insurance Data to Identify What Works to Prevent Abuse in an Organization

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

This makes sense. Even something as common and necessary as background checks are only going to catch people who’ve already been caught before. It’s a good thing to do, but it leaves that gap. What doesn’t leave a gap is having policies and procedures in place that prevent anyone from being able to abuse kids when working with your organization. If being alone with a child is simply not acceptable for anyone, that closes those gaps.

As the article goes on, that means rules like not giving kids gifts, not driving them home, etc. That’s what works, and it has to just be the culture in the organization, no questions asked. Create that culture, and you’re making the best effort to protect kids that you can make.

9 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.