A new report made after the investigation in Great Britain revealed a large number of cases of sexual violence against children, related to religions. This independent investigation found that some religious communities did not even have a child protection policy in place. The inquiry examined a large amount of evidence related to the 38 religious organizations present in England and Wales, with figures given in the investigation of the known prevalence of child sexual abuse unlikely to reflect the full picture.
Religious organizations play a central role, perhaps even a dominant one, in the lives of millions of children in England and Wales. The report shows the apparent hypocrisy and moral failure of religions that are supposed to teach children to distinguish good from bad, and yet fail to prevent or respond to child sexual abuse in their own communities.
The Inquiry revealed the shocking confessions of children who experienced the worst form of sexual abuse, such as that by a 12-year-old church volunteer, as well as the testimony of four children, under the age of nine, who were abused by teachers at the mosque. In the first case, although he was reported, "unconditional" proof of guilt is awaited, while in the second case, the perpetrator was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
The report reveals that organizational and cultural barriers to reporting child sexual abuse in religious organizations and settings are numerous, diverse, and difficult to overcome. These include blaming victims, the absence of discussion about sex and sexuality, and discouraging external reporting, thus prioritizing the organization’s reputation over the needs of victims of sexual abuse.
One-quarter of millions of children in England and Wales attend some form of religious education, through further education or extracurricular activities. There are no adequate data on the number of institutions, the exact number of children or persons running these activities.
The report makes two recommendations:
(i) that all religious organizations should have child protection policies and support procedures;
(ii) that the government should enact a law to change the definition of full-time education to bring any environment that maintains a primary school into a registered school, and give Ofsted sufficient authority to examine the quality of child protection when inspecting suspicious unregistered schools.
Professor Alexis Jay, chairman of the inquiry, said:
"Accusing victims, fearing damage to reputation, and discouraging external reporting are some of the obstacles that victims and survivors face, as well as clear indications that religious organizations have priority over their own reputation. For many, these obstacles were too difficult to overcome. ”
"We have seen some examples of good practice and hope that the recommendations in this report will improve what religious organizations across England and Wales are doing to fulfill their moral responsibility to protect children from sexual abuse."