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For many British people, it's perhaps natural to assume the problem of religious child abuse is a Catholic one. How could it not be when, for years, the news ran rampant with stories of priests abusing children? The coverage was warranted: from 2001 to 2010, the central governing body of the Catholic Church considered sex abuse allegations concerning about 3,000 priests dating back 50 years, some against children as young as three.But as the Methodist allegations reveal, this is far from being a Catholic-only problem. Furthermore, on the Protestant side of things, the Church of England revealed last year that they were investigating the personnel files of thousands of clergymen and women as part of a probe into allegations of abuse, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, expecting more to be uncovered, saying it's something he deals with "every day."
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Going forward, we're obviously in an imperfect position, forced to rely to a large extent on authorities like the police and social services, which—in the past—haven't always been particularly effective at dealing with these issues. We need to encourage them to be more open and connect more frequently with religious communities, ending what's been a wait-and-see environment of negligence. When abuse is suspected, a support group structure is needed to monitor a child's situation, as are nurses to evaluate their care-taking arrangements, with pediatricians in schools also helping spot it. Videoconferencing has also been used to diagnose abuse in remote areas, so there is certainly cause for hope.Heimlich believes the best way we can make a difference is "to encourage religious organizations and professionals to be educated about religious child maltreatment, which is what my nonprofit organization, the Child-Friendly Faith Project, does. Every person of faith should be asking administrators and religious leaders of their church, synagogue or mosque to learn about religious child maltreatment, how it impacts child development and what is needed to ensure that child abuse prevention policies are effective."Stewart adds: "If a religion places a huge stress on obedience and parental authority, sanctions corporal punishment, and emphasizes female disempowerment or subjugation, or the subjugation of other ethnic or religious groups, it lays the foundation for abuse. Of course, this principle does not just apply to religions. If members of any group or community suspect there may be abuse within their midst, they are required to pay attention and address it. We should all demand openness, transparency, and investigation of any allegation of abuse."Lastly, though apologies mean little in the face of decades—perhaps centuries—of abuse, religions like the Methodist Church recognizing what they've done creates an openness around abuse, making the environment more accepting for victims to come forwards. They also reflect an invitation for people to observe these religions more stringently, a transparency which, in the Catholic Church, has seen abuse by priests drop sharply in the last 20 years. In 2010, accusations of a sexual nature numbered eight cases in the United States, a significant drop. And though there are many other religions out there where abuse is still rampant, surely, if the Catholic Church can begin getting its act together, others can too.To read more about child abuse, and help fight it, visit the National Children's Alliance.Follow James Nolan on Twitter.READ ON VICE NEWS: More than 1,000 Jehovah's Witnesses Have Been Accused of Child Sex Abuse in Australia—and Police Never Knew