Seldom has a week gone by without a church, nonprofit or school making national news because of the sexual misconduct of one of their employees or volunteers. People who wish to do harm to our children are constantly seeking places and opportunities to do so.
Unfortunately, one of the paths-of-least-resistance for predators is in the Church. While most other child and youth-serving organizations realize not only the threat but the potential liability, many of our churches still lag far behind when it comes to protecting the children and youth as well as the ministry of the church. We would like to share the following:
Child Abuse Prevention Resources
Know Concerning Statistics
- Approximately 770,000 incidents of child abuse are reported per year, with 10 percent of those being sexual abuse.
- It is believed that less than 10 percent of sexual abuse cases are ever reported to authorities, so the actual incidence of sexual abuse each year is much greater than reported.
- The most common abusers of children are acquaintances of their victims.
- Sexual abuse occurs among all groups of society, in rural and metro areas, and regardless of race, education, or socioeconomic status.
- Child advocates commonly claim that one in four girls and one in seven boys are sexually molested before their 18th birthday.
- Every 6 minutes a convicted criminal tries to attain a position at a non-profit organization.
- Every 43 hours at least one convicted sex offender tries to attain a position at a youth-oriented non-profit organization.
Be Aware Regarding Offenders
- In relation to molesters in churches, the offenders are often well-liked, created and committed people.
- Not necessarily single males in their 20’s or 30’s
- Other minors now perpetrate as many as 25% of sexual offenses against other minors.
- A growing number of offenders are now female.
Take a Comprehensive Approach
Realizing the offenders come in all shape and sizes churches have an obligation to implement an exhaustive program to include written guidelines on:
- Hiring, Selection and Screening
- Training
- Oversight and Supervision
- Safe Activities for Children and Youth
- Responding to an allegation of child sexual abuse
Get Help from the Experts
- Southern Mutual Church Insurance – https://www.smcins.com/resources.html?tab=child-protection
- GuideOne Insurance –https://www.guideone.com/policyholder/guidevantage/safechurch/safechurch-resource-library
- Christian Law Association –https://www.christianlaw.org/the-legal-alert-march-2023
Other Resources