Perhaps it goes without saying, but childhood sexual abuse is a world wide problem.
Lat week I posted about Oprah’s show about male survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Since the show aired there have been a number of news stories about Canadian men who survived childhood sexual abuse who participated in the show.
My wife is a big fan of Oprah Winfrey. She is certainly one of the most influential people in North America (Oprah, not my wife). So I was pleased when my wife told me that Oprah had devoted two days to a show about male survivors of sexual abuse. The first part aired last week. Part two is scheduled to be aired today.
The show is about the stories of 200 adult men who were molested as children. I applaud Oprah’s efforts to encourage male survivors of sexual abuse to come forward.
Disclosure Painful
In an Editorial published today in The Montreal Gazette the authors point to the apparent epidemic of sexual abuse in schools.
…it is impossible to know how large the problem of sexual predators in schools is, but there is, definitely, a problem. A 2001-2005 investigation in the U.S. last year by Associated Press found more than 2,500 cases of teachers who were either sanctioned by their schools or, in half the cases, convicted of a crime of sexual misconduct.
The authors conclude:
The seriousness of child sexual abuse cannot be overstated. Victims talk of lives ruined. They are unable to work, form relationships, enjoy friendships or accomplish what they hoped to in life.
The justice system seems to be the one realistic hope of putting an end to a predator’s career.
I couldn’t agree more. I have been representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse for more than 15 years. Criminal charges provide the justice system with a chance to punish sexual predators. Civil claims for sexual abuse hold the institutions that allow sexual deviants to prey on child accountible for the lives destroyed by sexual abuse.
If you have been a victim of childhood sexual abuse you can contact me for a free report about childhood sexual abuse claims and a manual of Atlantic Canadian resources for survivors of sexual abuse.
A Grade 7 teacher from Park West school in Clayton Park in Halifax has been charged with sexual touching, and sexual assault against two boys. Scott Gordon Comeau has worked for the Halifax Regional School board since 1996.
More details here .
Today I saw a story in the Arizona Republic by E. J. Montini commenting on the case of a 26 year (female) teacher charged with sexual abuse of one of her teenage students. The teacher was described by the prosecutor as having a “relationship” with the victim.
Here’s the full story: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0506montini0506.html
As an attorney with a special interest in representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse I agree wholeheartedly that there is a double standard with punishment received by female sex abusers. One only has to look at the statement of the judge who sentenced 43 year old teacher Pamela Moore, who was convicted of sexually assaulting one of the 13 year old boys in her class:
“I really don’t see the harm that was done here, and certainly society doesn’t need to be worried. I do not believe she is a sexual predator. It’s just something between two people that clicked beyond the teacher-student relationship.”
Can you imagine the howls of outrage from the public if a judge said a male teacher (or a priest) wasn’t a sexual predator because he had “clicked” with a thirteen year old girl? Sexual abuse of a child is a crime and whether the abuser is male or female the trauma caused by the abuse can destroy a child’s life.
