'Child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church: The case of Spain'

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• Prof Noemí Pereda, University of Barcelona.
• Thursday 23 January 2020, 17:30-18:45
• Seminar Rooms (basement), Institute of Criminology, Sidgwick Avenue.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Simone Castello.

This talk is hosted by the Institute of Criminology and the VRC .

Child sexual abuse by clergy has existed throughout the history of the Catholic Church, however these cases have not come to light until very recently. In Spain, the interest in this topic increased five years ago when a journalist revealed the multiple accusations against several members of schools of the Marist Brothers and the silent response of the institution when they knew. Taking this as a starting point, I will discuss the specific context in which child sexual abuse has emerged and present data from the first descriptive study on Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Spain. Thirty-eight adult victims of clergy child sexual abuse participated in the study. The characteristics of the sexual victimization and the perpetrator, the process of disclosure and notification, and the experience of other forms of victimization previous to the abuse were evaluated. I conclude that the Spanish Catholic Church must acquire the commitment to collaborate in the recovery process of victims from the emotional, physical and spiritual damage caused by the clergy.

This talk is part of the Violence Research Centre, Institute of Criminology series.

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• Seminar Rooms (basement), Institute of Criminology, Sidgwick Avenue
• Violence Research Centre, Institute of Criminology

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