DutchNews.nl,
Monday 11 March 2013
The
Catholic church must acknowledge and compensate the thousands of girls who were
sexually and physically abused by priests, monks and nuns, according to a new
report focusing on female abuse victims.
 |
| Second report from committee Deetman. (ANP) |
Three of
the cases are so serious they are to be referred to the public prosecution
department, even though they technically happened too long ago.
The
report shows that girls were more likely to be abused in their homes whereas
boys were usually abused at boarding schools. But girls were more likely to to
be subjected to physical violence and mental abuse by nuns and other carers
when they were living in institutions.
Last
week, the Volkskrant reported that five of the seven church abuse victims to
get the maximum compensation payment of €100,000 are women.
It is
not clear how many girls were abused by clerics and nuns, but it could run up
to 10,000, the Deetman report said.
Cold
Although
church archives gave little indication of physical abuse, a picture did arise
of a 'climate based on formality and a lack of affection, of chilly emotions
and toughness, repression and humilation', Nos quoted the report as saying.
Deetman,
a former Christian Democratic party chairman, has now urged the church to
appoint mediators to help the victims of abuse come to terms with what happened
to them, in combination with financial compensation.
The
Catholic church on Monday offered its excuses to women who were abused by
members of religious orders in their youth. The authorities said bishops would
do their utmost to ensure the 'recovery of trust, healing and reconciliation'.
However,
Maud Kips, of the female church abuse survivors organisation VPKK, told Trouw
on Monday she felt the new report had been compiled too quickly. 'Abuse within
the church is considered a male thing. Women have felt ignored for a long
time,' she told the paper.
800
priests
In the
first report published in December, Deetman said at least 800 Roman Catholic
priests and monks were involved in abusing children in their care between 1945
and 1985.
In
addition, church officials, bishops and lay people were aware of what was going
on but failed to take action to protect children, the commission said.
The
commission was set up by the Catholic church in March 2010 after the sexual
abuse scandal broke in the Netherlands and hundreds of victims came forward.
Over 2,000 people have since registered their abuse with the authorities.
Parliament
had asked Deetman's committee to compile a second report focusing on girls.
Earlier
stories
 |
| Women in one of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries in the 1940s. Photograph: Roz Sinclair/Testimony Films |
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