Lawyers in sex abuse cases should be accountable, says expert

Published: 2004-02-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Greater public scrutiny of lawyers for child sex abuse victims may be needed to assure that litigation is not psychologically harmful to victims and does not bankrupt organizations serving children, wrote a leading expert on maltreatment of children. Lawyers for victims should be praised for their "heroic leadership" in drawing attention to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, but they should be subject to the same public accountability as other professionals who work with victims of child sex abuse, wrote David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Finkelhor's assessment appeared in the November issue of Child Abuse and Neglect, a monthly magazine for child-care specialists published by the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. The article assessed the positive and negative aspects of the clergy abuse scandal on society's overall understanding of child sex abuse. The crisis drew attention to the need for prevention, but public discussions often fostered misconceptions regarding offenders, the limited scope of sex abuse within the entire range of child maltreatment problems and the role of homosexuality, Finkelhor said. Regarding lawsuits, "many professionals have a sense that for some survivors, civil litigation ends up exacerbating their trauma rather than alleviating it," the article said. "How are the plaintiffs recruited? What kinds of informed consent procedures are undertaken with them? What are the traumatizing portions of the litigation process, and how are these stresses managed and mitigated?" it asked.

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