Sex Abuse Victims" Group to Hold First Support Meeting in Stockton

SNAP
November 18, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ca_stockton_meeting

An international self-help organization for men and women who were molested by religious figures will hold its first confidential support group meeting in Stockton on Saturday, November 22nd from 1-3 pm at the Troke Branch Library at 502 W. Benjamin Holt Drive, Stockton. Those who suffered institutional abuse and their families and supporters welcome. But the meeting is not open to the public.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the group behind this effort. The mission of SNAP is to support survivors, protect children and raise awareness of sex crimes against children in religious and institutional settings. For 25 years, SNAP has worked to establish a worldwide network of survivors.

Despite the word “priest” in the organization’s name, any adult who was abused in any religious setting, either as a child or as an adult, is welcome to attend the kick-off meeting on November 22nd.

According to Kathleen Conti, the Stockton SNAP leader, the group especially hopes that the 34 victims who recently filed a claim against the Stockton Catholic Diocese with the bankruptcy court will take this opportunity to come together to meet and to form a support network.

“Although I am a survivor of abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, SNAP has become my extended family,” Conti said. “I hope that by starting a group in the Stockton area I can pass that gift along to others.”

Tim Lennon, the SNAP leader from San Francisco, who is helping Conti, added, “We want to reach out all victims who are still suffering in silence. Both victims and their supporters are invited to join us at this meeting. By sharing our stories, we recognize that we are not alone, and we can begin to heal.”