20 May, 2009

Protect Children...

The Guardian highlights a report that was released on the abuse of children from "Irish Catholic church-run industrial schools and orphanages."

Not one to take the cheap shot at the Catholic church (we all have our sin) I will say that the abuse and systematic degradation of children should never be tolerated. Neither should the solution be to just move the offender. When it comes to abuse it is never a family thing and silence, avoidance or denial is never a viable avenue.

In case you haven't noticed, the abuse of children is one of the things that can set me off in an instant. It is, to me, one of the highest forms of twisted cowardice there is.

Why can't people enjoy and encourage children? The article talked about how the nuns would intentionally inflect humiliation on the children to make them feel worthless and increase shame. Explain that to me? Why do we ever use "shame" with children? It never works.

Ugh!

And here is the worse part:
The report found that molestation and rape were "endemic" in boys' facilities, chiefly run by the Christian Brothers order, and supervisors pursued policies that increased the danger. Girls supervised by orders of nuns, chiefly the Sisters of Mercy, suffered much less sexual abuse but instead endured frequent assaults and humiliation designed to make them feel worthless.

...

The report concluded that when confronted with evidence of sex abuse, religious authorities responded by transferring offenders to another location, where in many instances they were free to abuse again.

Why?