AUSTRALIA
The Age
November 14, 2012
Hayden Stephens
The abused and belittled want the terrible truth to be acknowledged at last.
PEOPLE who were sexually abused as children have waited a long time for the announcement of a royal commission. They have been waiting a long time to break down the walls of legal protection that their abusers have hidden behind so successfully, for so long.
In the mid-1990s I represented more than 250 men who, as children, were victims of sexual assault and abuse while in the care of the Catholic Church and the Christian Brothers Order.
We know that the predators within the Order colluded with each other to create a systemic network of abuse. They shared information about vulnerable children and worked together to suppress complaints.
When their activities became too overt church superiors stepped in, and moved them elsewhere within the Order. In doing so, authorities reduced the possibility that a paedophile might have been exposed, and they did nothing to prevent the continuing abuse.
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