By Dr Neil Ormerod
It is probably not an understatement to say that sexual abuse will be one of the key issues which the churches will have to deal with in the '90s. Recent media coverage, particularly the ABC program Compass, ("Conduct Unbecoming", June 27) has highlighted the present state of play in the Australian churches, with the formation of a number of support and advocacy groups for survivors and the development of new policies by the churches. If anything, the coverage revealed how far the churches in Australia still have to go in coming to grips with the issue.
The situation here has not yet reached the same level of crisis as that of the US churches. The Catholic Church in particular has been rocked by a number of sexual scandals, some involving senior church leaders. Some dioceses are facing financial ruin, and insurance companies are starting to think twice about renewing insurance. It is estimated that the Catholic Church alone has paid out over $600 million in legal costs, out of court settlements and therapy costs.
In the latest scandal a US priest, Fr Gary Hayes, is suing his own church for abuse suffered when he was a youth. He claims that not only did abuse occur, but that the church authorities were complicit in allowing it to continue and in covering up the activities of abusive priests. The case is currently before the courts.
While cases of paedophilia generally attract the most attention, there is a growing awareness that the issue of sexual abuse within the churches is a much broader problem. Many commentators are beginning to point out that what were often considered examples of "sexual impropriety" among ministers are really cases of sexual abuse. Such actions, which normally involve adult women (and sometimes men), constitute sexual abuse in the same manner as, for example, the sexual involvement of a psychiatrist with a patient. It is an abuse of professional privilege.
Psychotherapist Peter Rutter, in Sex in the Forbidden Zone (Harper Collins), has analysed the psychological damage done when therapists, counsellors or ministers violate the "sexual boundary" between themselves and their client. He likens the damage to that done by incest. Protestant authors Karen Lebacqz and Ronald Barton, in Sex in the /John Knox Press), have attempted to provide an ethical framework to analyse sexual relationships between ministers and congregants. In both these works it is clear that sexual relationships in such situations are not just matters of "sexual morality" but much more matters of professional ethics.
In these situations, the key issue is not sex but power. Those in the "helping professions" have privileged access to the inner world of their clients. Their professional standing gives them an authority and power, which they are required to use in the best interests of their clients. The power they have mitigates any consent which the client may appear to give to sexual activity, since it will be the product of emotional coercion. When they misuse their power for their own sexual advantage, they are violating the trust placed in them by their clients and by society at large.
In many professions such a violation of trust would lead to some form of professional suspension. Indeed the media often carry stories of professional misconduct by psychiatrists, doctors and others, leading to their being struck off from medical practice. Yet in the churches such professional misconduct is often seen as a minor matter, with no serious sanctions being brought to bear. Indeed it is quite typical for the woman victim in such cases to be seen as the problem, not the minister: she led him on, she threw herself at him, her complaints are just vindictive.
In this light the admission by Bishop Peter Connors, in the recent Compass program, that the Catholic Church was beginning to recognise that adult sexual abuse was a concern as well as paedophilia, takes on added significance. It is the first step in moving away from considering the problem simply in terms of sexual morality. However, there is still a long way to go. As the program demonstrated, even though the Uniting Church theoretically recognises the fact of adult sexual abuse, in practice women who come forward with complaints about ministers are still treated as the problem. Concrete action is seldom taken against the minister in such cases.
There is, of course, some debate as to how widespread the problem of sexual abuse is. Fr Brian Lucas, spokesperson for the Sydney Archdiocese, claimed, in the aftermath of the Compass program, that it concerned "less than 1% of priests" in the Catholic Church. Such a low figure could only refer to cases of paedophilia, and even there it would seem to tatement. Fr Andrew Greeley, a well-known Catholic writer and sociologist, puts the figure in the US at around 5%. There is no reason to think the Australian church is any different.
Concerning adult sexual abuse, again there is no reason to think the figure is any different from other professions. In one confidential survey, 7% of psychiatrists admitted to having sexual relationships with their clients. In another, dealing with ministers of religion, 13% admitted to sexual relations with someone other than their spouse. On the basis of these figures, it is not unreasonable to put the figure as 10-15% of ministers and priests. This would make it a major problem for the churches.
Further, it should be kept in mind that such activity is rarely a "one-off lapse". Again, surveys of psychiatrists have led to the figure of around six victims per abuser. This is likely to be an underestimate, because of the common tendency of abusers to minimise their activities. Since working in this area I have known of a case of a minister who had over a hundred victims, over a number of years. There are also cases of priests who have a history of abuse stretching over 20 years. The trail of destruction left by such people beggars the imagination. Yet often the priests and ministers involved are held in high regard in their churches.
It is clear that the churches in Australia are still a long way from really coming to grips with this problem. In the past the policy was simply one of moving people on, even when there was criminal activity involved, for example, rape or paedophilia. The churches are beginning to see that this is inadequate, but they do not seem to have developed adequate alternative policies, or, more importantly, alternative attitudes within their organisational structures.
One direction which could be taken would be tougher legal sanction. In the US a number of states have passed legislation prohibiting any sexual contact between therapists and clients. Under this law, sex is classified as a "therapeutic deception", where consent is no defence, punishable by up to 10 years' prison.
Taking these laws as a basis, a woman in the US recently received over $1 million damages after suing an Episcopalian diocese for the activities of one of its priests towards her. Cases such as these are making churches in the US sit up and take notice. It may be that this is the way to go in Australia as well. There are people seeking such law reform in Australia, and the churches could well find themselves caught in its net.
Another direction which must be taken, if the churches are to be true to their Christian mission, is to display a far more pastoral attitude to victims of abuse. While the churches give public lip service to the needs of victims, those who are on the receiving end often speak of "a second round of abuse" by church authorities.
It is the victims who are subject to intense questioning, whose motivations are suspected, who are told they might be fantasising, that they are unforgiving or vindictive, that they might be "ruining" the career of a minister or priest, that they are causing scandal and so on. On the other hand, there seems to be a marked reluctance to confront the minister or priest. After all, the abusive minister is a member of the same "clerical club" as those who are to confront him.
The churches often speak about the importance of social justice, and rightly so. They speak of a preferential option for the poor and of listening to the voices of the victims. Yet in this area, where the victims arise from scandalous activities of its own ministers, the churches have too often and too long turned a deaf ear.
It was only after immense public pressure that the Christian Brothers in WA issued a public apology to the numerous victims of physical and sexual abuse at Bindanoon and other institutions. Talk about justice is cheap, but justice comes only at a price. At present, it is a price the churches seem reluctant to pay.
[Dr Ormerod is a Catholic theologian and a member of Friends of Susanna, an advocacy group for survivors of sexual abuse within churches. Friends of Susanna can be contacted at PO Box 13, Kingsway West NSW 2208.]