Abuse

Earlier today I blogged about seemingly never ending cases of catholic abuse, looking at New Zealand’s list of problems.

In Scotland more information is coming out about the extent of abuses in the clergy where they seem to have been out of control sexually.

Why are the catholics so deluded when it comes to sex?

Roman Catholic priests in Scotland were “out of control sexually” under the leadership of the disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the Church’s former adviser on child abuse claims.

Alan Draper has accused the Church leadership, of being “unwilling” to expose supposedly celibate priests who were leading “double lives” in the 1980s and 1990s.  Read more »

Shane Koyczan has created an anti-bullying project called To This Day.

My experiences with violence in schools still echo throughout my life but standing to face the problem has helped me in immeasurable ways.

To This Day Project is a project based on a spoken word poem written by Shane Koyczan called “To This Day”, to further explore the profound and lasting impact that bullying can have on an individual.  Read more »

This is just going to keep on keeping on until the Church actually addresses what appears to be a systemic problem with pedophile priests.

I can’t hardly wait for Andrei to turn up and point out that other churches do it too, and Lucia to suggest that the church is doing something…just not exactly what that something is.

A former Catholic brother spanked the bare backsides of students for his own sexual gratification and not to discipline them as he claims, a judge says.

The former brother, Edward Mamo, admits he took five boarding students to the school’s laundry where he ordered them to remove their pants and bend over a chest before he struck them with a leather strap.

Mamo would often touch himself and make comments to the students while hitting them, the Victorian County Court heard.

But Mamo’s lawyer Peta Murphy said her client maintained that there was an element of discipline in his actions.

Read more »

I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed.
— Archbishop of Los Angeles

The problem may not be the priests – but the system of sexual repression that the Church fosters. | Cartoon by David Reddick; source & courtesy – aintnogod.com

Read more »

It looks like the ultra-Orhodox Jewish community have been acting as bad as Catholics when it comes to covering up child abuse:

An unlicensed therapist and respected member of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn was sentenced on Tuesday to 103 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a young woman, beginning the attacks when she was 12.

The therapist, Nechemya Weberman, 54, a member of the Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg, did not react as the judge sentenced him. The victim, now 18, who delivered an impassioned statement asking for the maximum sentence to be imposed, dabbed away tears.

“The message should go out to all victims of sexual abuse that your cries will be heard and justice will be done,” Justice John G. Ingram of State Supreme Court said before imposing the sentence, which was close to the longest the law allows. Justice Ingram praised the young victim’s “courage and bravery in coming forward.”  Read more »

Domestic violence must be stamped out at all levels, including leafy suburbs where suppression orders to protect those in high political office who like to show their women the back of their hand.

An anti-violence campaigner has called on Northland men to “man up” and lead the way against domestic violence by speaking up if they see others abusing loved ones.

Hundreds marched through central Whangarei yesterday to protest against domestic violence following the violent death of mother of two Patricia Ann Mcgrath.

The mother of two, nicknamed Wowo, died on January 8 in Whangarei Hospital after she was taken off life support following an assault four days earlier in her Kamo home.  Read more »

What on earth has marriage equality got to do with Sensible Sentencing? Quite a lot apparently. Garth McVicar thinks that marriage equality will lead to hordes of criminal beasts committing all sorts of crimes against humanity:

Crime will rise if gay couples are allowed to marry, says the head of the country’s victim lobby group.

Sensible Sentencing Trust leader Garth McVicar has submitted to Parliament that changing the law to allow same-sex marriage will be yet another erosion of basic morals and values in society which have led to an escalation of child abuse, domestic violence, and an ever-increasing prison population.

“The marriage amendment bill will not benefit society at all and will ultimately have detremetal (sic) effect on crime at all levels,” the submission read.  Read more »

It’s the Germans this time.

A report about child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, based on victim accounts and released by the church this week, showed that priests carefully planned their assaults and frequently abused the same children repeatedly for years.

The report, compiled from information collected from victims and other witnesses who called a hot line run by the church from 2010 until the end of last year, includes the ages of the victims, the locations of the assaults and the repercussions they have suffered since. The accounts were provided in 8,500 calls to the hot line; they are not representative of abuse cases over all and cannot be individually verified. The church said the report contained information from 1,824 people, of whom 1,165 described themselves as victims.

Bloody Catholic priests, just can’t leave the kids alone.  Read more »

Julia Gillard has come out strongly today announcing the terms of reference for a Royal Commission to look into the child sex abuse in an institutional context including crimes committed and covered up by the Catholic Church:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said too many people have turned a blind eye to the shocking crime of child sexual abuse, as she announced the terms of reference for the royal commission in Sydney on Friday.

Ms Gilllard said that it is clear that too many children had been subject to sexual abuse in institutions and were not provided with a safe childhood.

Describing child abuse as a ”hideous, shocking and vile crime”, Ms Gillard said, ”I believe our nation needs to have this royal commission.”

Ms Gillard said to survivors of child sexual abuse, ”we want your voices to be heard. Even if you felt for all of your life that no one’s listened to you.”

The prime minister said the Royal Commission would focus only on child sex abuse in institutional contexts.  Read more »

Someone quoted Malcolm Tucker yesterday on the request post as to what I should do with the blog in the coming year.

“marshal all the media forces of Darkness to hound them to an assisted suicide“.

Malcolm Tucker may very well be a fictional character, but I think we need more people in politics with an attitude like this: