AUSTRALIA
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By Paul Bibby May 2, 2013
The abuse of children by priests and church workers often begins between the ages of six and 10, and generally only stops when victims take action to stop it or avoid it, a new study has found.
The report, They Didn’t Believe Me: Adult Survivors’ Perspectives of Child Sexual Abuse by Personnel in Christian Institutions, is the first Australian research drawing on church abuse victims’ experiences that doesn’t rely on church data.
The majority of the 81 participants reported that they had been abused repeatedly, often over several years, and that they were ”re-victimised” by the church and the criminal justice system when they reported the abuse.
Forty-four per cent of participants said their abuse began between age six and 10, with more than half of the women participants falling into this category.
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