Building trust key part of outreach programs for sex abuse victims

Published: 2004-09-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two years after the U.S. bishops approved policies to prevent clergy sex abuse of minors, building trust is a major dimension of church programs that reach out to highly skeptical abuse victims. "The impression is that most bishops don't genuinely want a vigorous effort for victims to come forward," said David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP. Explaining outreach programs on diocesan Web sites and in the media "looks to most of us like sophisticated damage-control mechanisms," said Clohessy. To help overcome distrust, the Boston Archdiocese, where the church's clergy sex abuse scandal first surfaced in early 2002, asked law firms in litigation against the archdiocese to be bridges to victim-clients by informing them of church programs. There was a wide range of reaction from the approximately 40 lawyers who represent victims, said Barbara Thorp, director of the archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach, which works with victims. "Some law firms were telling clients not to access our services. Others were encouraging survivors to seek our services," she said. Many people refer to victims of clergy sex abuse as "survivors."

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