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	Church Abuse Study Overdue - Criminologist The News.com.au September 23, 2011 http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/church-abuse-study-overdue-criminologist/story-e6frfku0-1226144668039 A NEW study into child sexual abuse in the church will finally give victims a voice, a researcher says. Queensland University of Technology criminologist Dr Jodi Death will survey 150 adults who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of anyone employed by a Christian organisation, be it a church, school, or home for children. Participants will complete a confidential and detailed online questionnaire and, if they choose, take part in an interview. Dr Death said the study was long overdue. "The Senate inquiry into forgotten Australians and certainly the inquiry into child migration have both touched on the issues of abuses that happened within church organisations," she said today. "But no one has been specifically targeting this particular issue in Australia. "I believe this is the first such study in Australia, on an academic level, which is independent of the church." Participants will be asked about the frequency of abuse they suffered as well as what happened when they complained. "It's important to know how this is being dealt with here in Australia," Dr Death said. "If results come back (as) 'I'm happy with the way my complaint was dealt with' then that is fine. But anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise." The child abuse support group Survivors Australia asked Dr Death to undertake the research, which she says will help address the imbalance between abusers within the church and their victims. "One of the things that we would really love to get out of this is a report, or a major publication of some sort, that actually represents the voices of survivors ... actually having a forum that is representative of their experience, a public forum." An advisory panel of national and international scholars in law and justice will analyse the results of the survey, which closes in December. The information gathered will also be used in reports to government on the needs and experiences of victims.
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