MILWAUKEE (WI)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee
July 1, 2013
Dr. Monica Applewhite, one of the leading experts on screening, monitoring and policy development for the prevention of sexual abuse, has studied the development of organizational standards of care for prevention and response to child sexual abuse. She reports that, until the mid-1970s, the belief was that child sexual abuse was rare. In the 1980s, professionals began to acknowledge how common child sexual abuse was and that it was a significant problem.
Even after realizing sexual abuse of a minor was more prevalent, including by clergy, it was only in the 1990s that professionals began to recognize the long-term effect of sexual abuse on victims.
From 1985 to 1995, most major religious organizations established policies on sexual misconduct that included codes of ethics, polices on reporting and procedures for responding to sexual abuse by ministers.
On a national level, in June 1992, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (then the National Conference of Catholic Bishops) adopted its five principles to follow in dealing with accusations of sexual abuse, and, the following year, formalized an Ad Hoc committee of the Bishops’ Conference on Sexual Abuse. This Committee continued to produce materials for dioceses to implement as ways of responsibly addressing this issue.
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