Call for Papers : Volume 11, Issue 03, March 2024, Open Access; Impact Factor; Peer Reviewed Journal; Fast Publication

Sexual abuse and harassment: topics we must talk about. by habenicht, d. (1998), Journal of adventist education

The issue of sexual abuse, particularly of children, is a global phenomenon that has plagued various institutions including the church or Christendom. There are many instances of sexual exploitation of young people by trusted members of the church. Many people would want for those occurrences to be secretly addressed because of the embarrassment it may have on the church fraternity. They would want sexual exploitation by members of the church swept under the carpet without addressing the social psychology of the victim because of the perceived negative effect on the religious denominations. The reality is, childhood sexual abuse committed by members of the church should be openly and frankly discussed as if it were done in the wider society. This review of Habenicht’s article on ‘Sexual Abuse and Harassment’ by a trusted senior member of the church highlights a social phenomenon that is ongoing and one that requires openness. The openness must be in context of providing cues of such happenings, establish measures of recourse, provide the victim with the right social and psychological support systems, and imprison those who break the trust of office in this regard. This review also brings into focus current happenings of sexual exploitation of children by members of the church in an effort to contextualize the severity and currency of the phenomenon.

Author: 
Paul Andrew Bourne, Meric Walker, Vincent M.S. Peterkin and Dave Higgins
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