tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/sexual-abuse-3352/articlesSexual abuse – The Conversation2024-03-25T19:06:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2203342024-03-25T19:06:03Z2024-03-25T19:06:03Z‘Everyone was groomed’: Anne Manne’s story of Newcastle’s paedophile priest network centres on a ‘kidnapped’ childhood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583928/original/file-20240324-28-b7dee7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=299%2C0%2C3694%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Church abuse survivor Steven Smith as a boy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation/Josh Eckstein, Unsplash/Black Inc.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2017, the <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/case_study_42_-_findings_report_-_the_responses_of_the_anglican_diocese_of_newcastle_to_instances_and_allegations_of_child_sexual_abuse.pdf">Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse</a> found that within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, priests had perpetuated crimes of abuse for at least 30 years. Serious allegations were mismanaged, misplaced or ignored. Crimes were minimised. “Abusive and predatory” behaviour was wrongly portrayed as “consensual”. </p>
<p>In her new book, <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/crimes-cross">Crimes of the Cross</a>, journalist Anne Manne provides an intricate and compelling account of how multiple diocesan clergy and leaders covered up allegations, protected priests who were known perpetrators and failed to care for survivors. </p>
<p>Manne builds on the groundbreaking work of Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy, whose investigations, starting in 2006, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/dogged-journalist-would-not-walk-away-from-abuse-victims-20140825-1082mu.html">led to the establishment of the 2012 royal commission</a>. Manne’s writing is informed by a variety of source materials, including interviews with McCarthy and various survivors, and evidence from the royal commission.</p>
<p>On the first page, Manne warns us this story is about a “sinister paedophile ring of priests demonic in their cruelty”, supported by “a ‘grey network’ of protectors”. These protectors – clergy and lay people – staffed helplines, were on professional standards committees, mismanaged or ignored complaints, and never reported criminal activity to police.</p>
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<p><em>Review: Crimes of the Cross – Anne Manne (Black Inc.)</em></p>
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<p>At least six priests associated with the diocese and one lay reader <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/unredacted-case-study-no-42.pdf">have been convicted</a> of child sex offending. Other priests were identified as “prolific” abusers, but not convicted in their lifetime.</p>
<p>Crimes of the Cross centres the stories of survivors. Their testimonies are retold with sensitivity, although explicit and distressing detail is provided at times (including in the opening pages). </p>
<p>Manne’s work concentrates primarily on one survivor – Steven Smith – who, from the age of ten, was repeatedly abused by a priest, Father George Parker. This happened over five years, from 1971 to 1975 – the year Parker was transferred to nearby Gateshead, where the abuse (initially) continued. </p>
<p>The 1971 arrival of Parker, then aged 30, is presented as a disruption to Smith’s happy and carefree childhood. Smith told Manne his childhood summers were spent in Bush Creek, “fishing and swimming”.</p>
<p>Despite this, Smith told Manne his parents’ marital problems made his family vulnerable. Their life revolved around the church community. At first, Smith felt proud of Parker’s attention to him. </p>
<p>However, when he became an altar boy, “everything changed” and the abuse started. Assaults happened at church, in the car with Parker, driving between churches, when his mother sent him to visit the rectory, and when Parker would pull him out of school, no questions asked. Smith said he was abused “fortnightly”; he was raped “hundreds of times”. His abuse, he said, was a “kind of kidnapping”.</p>
<p>Manne writes:</p>
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<p>a psychologist’s report years later stated that Steve had gone through one of the most extreme cases of sexual abuse that she had ever encountered.</p>
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<span class="caption">Steven Smith.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Black Inc.</span></span>
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<p>Through Smith’s and other stories, Manne explores how criminals such as Parker hid behind a “mask” of priesthood, and perpetrated crimes that significantly harmed the lives of those they targeted. She shows the human cost of bad policy and delayed justice.</p>
<p>Smith’s personal story of surviving abuse and campaigning for justice is at the centre of the book, which is divided into five chronological parts. </p>
<p>Shame and fear of social isolation can prevent a survivor from disclosing abuse. “Steve was a bright spark of a kid who saw with sharp clarity the social world around him,” Manne writes. </p>
<p>“He knew the consequences for his mother and family should the situation be made public – shame, expulsion from the church, ostracism from the community.” </p>
<p>While Steve did tell his mother about the abuse in 1975 (on the way home from Gateshead), he would not report it to police until February 2000.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, Smith disclosed to an Anglican helpline – where he spoke to a priest, Graeme Lawrence, who would later be <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6735734/former-anglican-dean-graeme-lawrence-and-the-vortex-of-clerical-child-sexual-abuse/">convicted of sexually assaulting</a> a 15-year-old boy in 1991.</p>
<p>In 2000, Smith reported Parker to the police. A trial against Parker was held in 2001, but when the defence team presented an alibi for him, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-13/priest-dies-weeks-after-child-abuse-charges-reinstated/8178476">the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charges</a>. In late 2016, the charges were reinstated. The trial was delayed as Smith gave evidence at the royal commission. Parker died in January 2017, before facing court.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/royal-commission-report-makes-preventing-institutional-sexual-abuse-a-national-responsibility-88564">Royal commission report makes preventing institutional sexual abuse a national responsibility</a>
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<h2>Seeking justice</h2>
<p>The second section, Team Church, describes a missed opportunity for justice. After Smith made the police report, Parker was charged and a trial was set for August 2001. </p>
<p>Manne recounts how diocesan staff made efforts to withhold information. For instance, staff, including Lawrence, had “exact records” of when and where clergy had been employed, as it was contained in parish yearbooks. </p>
<p>However, Manne notes when the detective working on the case asked for information about when Parker had been at Gateshead church, “no one in the Anglican Church told him of the existence of these records”. As as result, the detective “was preparing to frame the charges for 1974 – the wrong year”.</p>
<p>The case was no-billed and would not be reopened until after the royal commission.</p>
<p>Manne also shows how the diocese failed to provide pastoral care. Sadly, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14443058.2018.1458329">this is not uncommon</a> in cases of abuse in church communities. </p>
<p>In fact, Manne suggests the well-documented failings of Catholic leaders may have worked to obscure what was happening in the Anglican diocese. </p>
<p>Newcastle journalist Joanne McCarthy – who was <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2013/03/28/accidental-crusader-how-a-regional-reporter-prompted-a-royal-commission/">instrumental</a> in reporting instances of abuse within Catholicism – told Manne she didn’t initially understand “how bad child sexual abuse was in the Anglican church”. </p>
<p>In 2016, Manne herself had been trying to get at the “inner workings of the secret, mysterious Catholic committees” who were “responsible for cover ups” when she heard about the public hearings investigating the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle. </p>
<p>Within the diocese, staff appeared more interested in protecting the institution than responding to survivors. Some refused to hand parish records to police. Legal representatives used aspects of Steve’s history – not disclosing to his own father, being diagnosed with mental illnesses – against him. Manne astutely notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is common for survivors of child sexual abuse to suffer anxiety, depression and PTSD. Steve’s admission to a psychiatric hospital could have been interpreted as evidence he had been sexually abused. Instead, it was used to undermine his credibility. He was “mad”, it was implied, his testimony unreliable and not to be believed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Manne suggests while Steve was “denigrated in court”, there was “a reservoir of trust and goodwill towards the church”. But this reservoir was not limitless. </p>
<p>Towards the end of this section, Manne’s attention shifts to the mishandling of allegations in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-03/peter-hollingworth-apologises-child-sex-abuse-royal-commission/7135446">Anglican Diocese of Brisbane</a>. This points to the reality that both abuse and inadequate institutional responses have been widespread. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-cares-for-men-like-brian-houston-the-hillsong-leaders-rise-and-fall-is-a-gripping-story-but-how-was-it-allowed-to-happen-222810">'Who cares for men like Brian Houston?' The Hillsong leader's rise and fall is a gripping story, but how was it allowed to happen?</a>
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<h2>Denying what ‘ostensibly good men’ do</h2>
<p>While Steve’s experiences propel the book, Manne’s lens is wider. She considers how successive diocesan leaders and staff continued to mismanage complaints and to direct sympathy towards the abusing priests and the institution, rather than the many victim-survivors. </p>
<p>This allows Manne to clearly show the abuse perpetrated by priests was not isolated, nor random events committed by one “bad” man (or even a few bad men). Rather, there was a network of abusers and enablers, as well as systemic failures that allowed the church to become a “cover” for criminal activity. At the centre of the story, Manne states, there is “the denial of what ‘ostensibly good men’ do”.</p>
<p>A pivotal chapter, titled “The Wolf Hiding in Plain Sight”, uncovers the criminal activities of one of these “ostensibly good” men. </p>
<p>In late 2009, Manne tells us, Lawrence – by now the dean of the cathedral – was reported for sexual misconduct with an underage boy (in the early 1980s) to Michael Elliot, an ex-policeman who had been hired by the diocese to deal with sexual abuse complaints. </p>
<p>Lawrence, a powerful, controlling figure, had shaped diocesan culture and “groomed a whole city” for decades. Manne explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By grooming, a paedophile creates compliant, trusting people who simply won’t believe accusations of sexual misconduct. Presenting oneself as a very caring priest establishes the “halo effect”, a reservoir of admiration and goodwill, whereby people see the abuser as beyond reproach, enabling them to hide in plain sight. Grooming creates a network of defenders who can be mobilised when needed.</p>
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<p>In Lawrence’s case, this mobilisation resulted in pushback against Brian Farran – the then Bishop of Newcastle – after Lawrence was defrocked in 2012 due to the sexual abuse allegations against him. </p>
<p>Lawrence’s supporters saw the professional standards unit, which Elliot headed, as troublemakers. Smith and Elliot received death threats, Elliot’s car and home were “repeatedly vandalised”, and his dog went missing.</p>
<p>Manne writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you thought you were dealing with a Christian community, the death threats and intimidation, the vandalism of cars and homes, seems completely shocking. But if you reframed and realised that hidden within the church was a paedophile ring – then it became unsurprising.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Throughout, Manne demonstrates that abuse of power was a key element in the decades of criminal activity within the diocese. At the same time, recognition of survivors was slow. “For many in the church, it was easier to preserve good memories and dismiss survivors as liars.” </p>
<h2>Why weren’t survivors believed?</h2>
<p>The final section of the book asks important questions. Why was the abuse covered up? Why weren’t children believed? Manne’s analysis is both insightful and chilling. She reflects:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The desires of the paedophiles were heinous but simple. The cover-ups by the church hierarchy were dreadful, but you could see the logic: the protection of reputation, avoidance of scandal, fear of losing their income, houses and careers should they turn whistleblower. But the laity – what did [they] get out of it?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why were everyday churchgoers invested in protecting the institution?</p>
<p>Stepping into Newcastle Cathedral, Manne finds an answer. She imagines “the tall figure of Dean Graeme Lawrence sweeping along in his white lace and gold brocade robes, and how, amid this grandeur, a congregation might feel close to God”. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583923/original/file-20240324-24-roymtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>So much of this story, she writes, is about “status and the pursuit of social significance”. People were invested in their image of Lawrence, she concludes. Supporting powerful figures within the church gave regular parishioners a place and purpose. </p>
<p>And that, she presumes, was what Lawrence wanted: “There was no better way to groom a child, their family, and community than by using the altruistic mask of a priest.”</p>
<p>To point out the hypocrisy and systemic failings nested within the diocese, Manne turns to the Christian parable of the Good Samaritan, <a href="https://www.commongrace.org.au/parables_the_good_samaritan">which tells</a> “the story of a person who was attacked, robbed and left half dead on the side of the road”. </p>
<p>In the story, two religious leaders ignore the man, while a social outsider (a Samaritan) stops, sees the injured man and provides care. Manne compares abuse survivors to the person lying beaten on the side of the road, and accuses many clergy and lay people of having “averted their eyes”, just as the leaders in the parable did. </p>
<p>Some, she writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>were so focused on gaining social significance, on clawing their way up the church hierarchy, that they forgot the radical egalitarianism at the heart of the teaching of Jesus. They forgot especially what Jesus told the disciples about children.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Manne’s reading of the situation breaks my heart, but perhaps that’s the point.</p>
<p>As she draws her book together, she writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For some in the church there was a complete failure of moral imagination – an inability or refusal to acknowledge the soul murder of abuse victims. Why this blindness? The answer is terrible. <em>Because the victims were children</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the balance of power, everything was in the favour of powerful men like Lawrence and Parker. Children, who had nothing, were silenced, ignored and shamed. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dassi-erlich-and-her-sisters-were-easy-pickings-for-predators-with-their-abuser-malka-leifers-conviction-and-a-new-book-they-take-control-220325">Dassi Erlich and her sisters were 'easy pickings for predators'. With their abuser Malka Leifer's conviction – and a new book – they take control</a>
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<h2>Go on fighting</h2>
<p>Manne closes her book with a somewhat positive take: “Steve never stopped being a fighter.” She gives Smith the final words: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If something is wrong, it’s wrong. You have just got to go on fighting. Don’t ever give up.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As I reached the final pages, I was drained. I cannot begin to fathom the energy survivors such as Smith had to summon to go on fighting – in some cases for 20, 30, 40 years. Over lifetimes.</p>
<p>Manne’s book is certainly an emotionally difficult read, but it is also incredibly important. She highlights the lasting personal and social consequences of abuse, as well as woefully insufficient responses and victim-blaming cultures. She bears witness to the experience of survivors and to their fight for justice. </p>
<p>Yes, every churchgoer, every youth worker, everyone employed by a church – indeed everybody – should read this book. But read it with care (and perhaps with a friend) and pace yourselves: the story it tells is devastating.</p>
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<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em></p>
<p><em>The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220334/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosie Clare Shorter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Crimes of the Cross tells how clergy and leaders in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle covered up allegations, protected abusive priests and failed to care for survivors.Rosie Clare Shorter, Research fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215922024-03-05T22:28:47Z2024-03-05T22:28:47ZNon-disclosure agreements are commonplace in sexual harassment cases, but they’re being misused to silence people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576673/original/file-20240220-18-cck0gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5455%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-reading-documents-coffee-shop-girl-1126464620">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) came into public consciousness during the #MeToo movement after multiple women spoke out with sexual harassment allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein.</p>
<p>Weinstein systematically used NDAs to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/15/nda-harvey-weinstein-confidentiality-clause-abuse">silence victim-survivors</a>. It’s a major reason it took years for his behaviour to be made public. Because of the secrecy involved, it’s also how he was able to continue perpetrating harm against so many women. </p>
<p>We’ve been researching how NDAs are used in out-of-court sexual harassment settlements here in Australia. We’ve <a href="https://rlc.org.au/letstalkaboutconfidentiality">found</a> NDAs remain the default resolution practice for most lawyers, despite guidelines advising against it.</p>
<p>Given <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/time-for-respect-2022">one in three</a> Australian workers have been sexually harassed in the past five years and that many incidents are not reported, the pervasive use of confidentiality agreements means we know very little about what is happening in our workplaces and the cultural drivers of sexual harassment. It also means victim-survivors may agree to terms that prevent their psychological healing because they are bound to confidentiality. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buying-silence-we-cant-stop-workplace-sexual-harassment-without-banning-non-disclosure-agreements-172856">Buying silence: we can't stop workplace sexual harassment without banning non-disclosure agreements</a>
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<h2>What is a non-disclosure agreement?</h2>
<p>NDA is the universal description for what we call confidentiality agreements or confidentiality contractual terms.</p>
<p>Most sexual harassment complaints are resolved <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-02/ahrc_ar_2020-2021_complaint_stats.pdf">out of court</a> and are subject to a “settlement agreement”. These are contractual agreements that release respondents from any liability in exchange for a benefit to the applicant, such as money. </p>
<p>In Australia, confidentiality and non-disparagement terms are usually part of this settlement, so it’s effectively a NDA. </p>
<p>There is no doubt these agreements can be beneficial, and certainly some victim-survivors seek these terms. However, the Australian Human Rights Commission recognised that they’ve become standard and misused in the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/respectwork-sexual-harassment-national-inquiry-report-2020">Respect@Work Report</a>. </p>
<p>The Respect@Work Council was set up to implement the recommendations in that report. The council released <a href="https://www.respectatwork.gov.au/resource-hub/guidelines-use-confidentiality-clauses-resolution-workplace-sexual-harassment-complaints">guidelines</a> in December 2022 on the use of NDAs in workplace sexual harassment settlements. The guidelines say confidentiality clauses should not be seen as standard terms. They say that if NDAs must be used, scope should be limited, with exceptions allowing victim-survivors to speak to people in their support network, such as doctors or family. </p>
<p>We surveyed 145 sexual harassment lawyers to see how the guidelines are working in practice.</p>
<h2>Are the guidelines being followed?</h2>
<p>Even after those guidelines were released and after social movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp, <a href="https://rlc.org.au/letstalkaboutconfidentiality">our research</a> shows 75% of legal practitioners have never resolved a sexual harassment settlement without a strict NDA. This means blanket confidentiality with no carve-outs for disclosures to doctors or other supports.</p>
<p>We found the guidelines are not, at least yet, used as an effective resolution mechanism. In fact, 25% of sexual harassment practitioners have not read the guidelines and they are rarely provided to the other side in negotiations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of protestors in an American street holding a sign that says '#MeToo #TimesUp'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577191/original/file-20240221-26-891bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The #MeToo movement prompted some legislative change in the US.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/january-20-2018-san-francisco-ca-1005750553">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>We also found there is no cohesive approach in the legal profession to how confidentiality agreements are used in sexual harassment settlements. We identified three themes:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>some advocates told us the “standard” NDA practice is having carve-outs for victim-survivors to speak to doctors or family</p></li>
<li><p>other advocates spoke of usually having confidentiality around settlement terms only, allowing victim-survivors to otherwise speak about their experience</p></li>
<li><p>many advocates told us that exhaustive or strict agreements are standard practice, which mean a victim-survivor cannot speak to anyone about their experience. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/companies-need-confidentiality-clauses-but-not-to-muzzle-sexual-abuse-victims-87716">Companies need confidentiality clauses – but not to muzzle sexual abuse victims</a>
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<p>As an example of the third point, one solicitor said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you propose a non-standard clause which is anything but broad confidentiality there’s such a lot of pushback from the respondents that it just it feels like you both have to advocate for your client and also educate the respondent simultaneously.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>NDAs are not mandatory but their use is so entrenched that many practitioners do not advise of the option of not having one. Close to 30% of applicant practitioners and 50% of respondent practitioners have never provided this advice to clients. </p>
<p>It is a basic premise that lawyers provide advice and clients instruct. It’s spelled out in our Solicitors Conduct Rules. How can a client provide an instruction if they do not know all their options? If clients aren’t being advised on the nuances of NDAs, including possible carve-outs or reduction in scope, they are not empowered as active participants in their own legal matter. </p>
<h2>What are other countries doing?</h2>
<p>In Canada and the United States, legislation has been introduced to limit the use of NDAs and move away from these clauses being “standard”. A key aim of many of these proposed reforms is to provide the complainant with true choice, including proposed laws being considered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/11/victorias-move-to-restrict-silencing-sexual-harassment-victims-welcomed-by-unions-and-lawyers">in Victoria</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1546297856851865601"}"></div></p>
<p>While new legislation is one way to tackle the problem, an effective response may exist already within the regulation of legal conduct. </p>
<p>Until recently in Australia, the conduct of lawyers in negotiations was not commonly considered a disciplinary or professional conduct issue. But in September 2023, the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner <a href="https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/lawyers/practising-law/sexual-harassment/advice-lawyers-using-confidentiality-clauses-resolve">published advice</a> on how lawyers should use NDAs when resolving workplace sexual harassment complaints.</p>
<p>It advised lawyers they must be mindful to maintain the professional duty to act with independence and integrity when also upholding their duty to act in the best interest of their client. This requires careful consideration of clients’ short- and long-term interests. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-non-disclosure-agreements-isnt-enough-to-stop-unethical-workplace-leader-behaviour-173574">Banning non-disclosure agreements isn't enough to stop unethical workplace leader behaviour</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A confidentiality clause may be useful in the short term to protect an employer from reputational damage. The same clause, however, may operate against a client’s long-term interests if the same perpetrator sexually harasses another person and it becomes public knowledge that the business had been using NDAs to hide this conduct. </p>
<p>Our research found lawyers for alleged victim-survivors who advocate on this issue routinely are achieving settlements without strict NDAs. We had many lawyers who act for both employees and employers tell us they have settled multiple matters in the past 12 months without strict NDAs, in ways that are tailored to their client’s needs.</p>
<p>But the advocacy of lawyers can be limited if outdated practices remain entrenched. Ultimately, the entire profession needs to be better educated to ensure these agreements aren’t misused. In turn, we’ll see greater transparency around sexual harassment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Featherstone was a 2023 Social Justice Practitioner-in-Residence at the University of Sydney and is a senior lawyer at the Whistleblower Project, Human Rights Law Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharmilla Bargon was a 2023 Social Justice Practitioner-In-Residence at the Univeristy of Sydney and is a senior solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre</span></em></p>Non-disclosure agreements have been used to keep victim-survivors from speaking up. Despite guidelines addressing this, new research shows such agreements remain standard practice.Regina Featherstone, Social Justice Practitioner in Residence/Senior Lawyer, University of SydneySharmilla Bargon, Social Justice Practitioner in Residence/Senior Solicitor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222682024-02-01T02:36:29Z2024-02-01T02:36:29ZTaylor Swift deepfakes: new technologies have long been weaponised against women. The solution involves us all<p>Sexually graphic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jan/28/taylor-swift-x-searches-blocked-fake-explicit-images">“deepfake” images of Taylor Swift</a> went viral on social media last week, fuelling widespread condemnation from Swifties, the general public and even the White House.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1751012521589313808"}"></div></p>
<p>This problem isn’t new. Swift is one of many celebrities and public figures, <a href="https://regmedia.co.uk/2019/10/08/deepfake_report.pdf">mainly women</a>, who have fallen victim to deepfake pornography in recent years. High-profile examples garner significant media attention, but the increasingly sophisticated nature of AI means <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-24/artificial-intelligence-fashion-industry-models-deepfake-porn-ai/102997036">anyone can now be targeted</a>.</p>
<p>While there are grave concerns about the broader implications of deepfakes, it’s important to remember the technology isn’t the <em>cause</em> of abuse. It’s just another tool <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-before-deepfakes-tech-was-a-tool-of-abuse-and-control-211795">used to enact it</a>.</p>
<h2>Deepfakes and other digitally manipulated media</h2>
<p>The sexually explicit deepfakes of Swift appeared on multiple social media platforms last week, including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and Reddit.</p>
<p>Most major platforms have bans on sharing synthetic and digitally manipulated media that cause harm, confusion or deception, including deepfake porn. This includes images created through simpler means such as photo-editing software. Nonetheless, one deepfake depicting Swift <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/29/x-blocks-taylor-swift-searches-what-to-know-about-the-viral-ai-deepfakes">was viewed</a> 47 million times over a 17-hour period before it was removed from X. </p>
<p>There’s a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447341?casa_token=wlgXXrQJAWAAAAAA:Z1aslY4q9gFZPUNqzUCzYL5wjslwF86Y0m2uHLTI9FXrHnzZ1pVVowACFTX3l2maVLTKPhYM5y8PXg">long history</a> of digital technologies, apps and services being used to facilitate gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic or family violence, dating abuse, stalking and monitoring, and hate speech.</p>
<p>As such, our focus should also be on addressing the problematic gender norms and beliefs that often underpin these types of abuse. </p>
<h2>The emergence of deepfakes</h2>
<p>The origins of deepfakes can be traced to November 2017 <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bjye8a/reddit-fake-porn-app-daisy-ridley?__twitter_impression=true">when a Reddit user called “deepfakes”</a> created a forum and video-editing software that allowed users to train their computers to swap the faces of porn actors with the faces of celebrities.</p>
<p>Since then, there’s been a massive expansion of dedicated deepfake websites and threads, as well as apps that can create customised deepfakes for free or for a fee. </p>
<p>In the past, creating a convincing deepfake often required extensive time and expertise, a powerful computer and access to multiple images of the person being targeted. Today, almost anyone can make a deepfake – sometimes in a matter of seconds.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/taylor-swift-deepfakes-a-legal-case-from-the-singer-could-help-other-victims-of-ai-pornography-222113">Taylor Swift deepfakes: a legal case from the singer could help other victims of AI pornography</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The harms of deepfake porn</h2>
<p>Not all applications of AI-generated imagery are harmful. You might have seen funny viral deepfakes such as the images of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/03/27/pope-francis-coat-puffy-white-ai-fake/">Pope Francis in a puffer jacket</a>. Or if you watch the latest Indiana Jones film, you’ll see <a href="https://theconversation.com/harrison-ford-is-back-as-an-80-year-old-indiana-jones-and-a-40-something-indy-the-highs-and-lows-of-returning-to-iconic-roles-202357">Harrison Ford “de-aged” by 40 years</a> thanks to AI. </p>
<p>That said, deepfakes are often created for malicious purposes, including disinformation, cyberbullying, child sexual abuse, sexual extortion and other forms of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-can-now-create-fake-porn-making-revenge-porn-even-more-complicated-92267">image-based sexual abuse</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.homesecurityheroes.com/state-of-deepfakes/#key-findings">report published</a> by startup Home Security Heroes estimated there were 95,820 deepfake videos online in 2023, a 550% increase since 2019. </p>
<p>When it comes to deepfake porn, women in particular are disproportionately targeted. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/10/7/20902215/deepfakes-usage-youtube-2019-deeptrace-research-report">According to DeepTrace</a>, 96% of all deepfakes online <a href="https://regmedia.co.uk/2019/10/08/deepfake_report.pdf">are non-consensual fake videos of women</a>. These are mostly (but not exclusively) well-known actors and musicians. </p>
<p>This is concerning but not surprising. <a href="https://plan-international.org/publications/free-to-be-online/">Research</a> shows online abuse disproportionately affects women and girls, particularly Indigenous women, women from migrant backgrounds and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. </p>
<p>Public figures in particular face <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1329878X231225745">higher rates of online abuse</a>, especially women and gender-diverse people. One study found celebrities <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357262069_Beautiful_victims_How_the_halo_of_attractiveness_impacts_judgments_of_celebrity_and_lay_victims_of_online_abuse">are attributed more blame</a> than non-celebrities for the abuse they receive online, and this abuse is often viewed as less serious. </p>
<p>Research shows image-based abuse can result in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0964663920947791">significant harms</a> for victims, including anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, social isolation and reputational damage. For <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1329878X231225745">public figures</a>, deepfakes and other forms of online abuse can similarly result in diminished career prospects, withdrawal from public life and negative mental health outcomes.</p>
<p>In 2016, Australian activist and law reform campaigner <a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-womans-warning-after-facebook-photo-altered-and-posted-on-porn-sites-20161013-gs1xag.html">Noelle Martin’s</a> photos were taken from social media and superimposed onto pornographic images. Martin reported feeling “physically sick, disgusted, angry, degraded, dehumanised” as a result. Digitally altered and deepfake images of Martin continue to circulate online without her consent.</p>
<h2>Responding to deepfake porn</h2>
<p>Anyone can be targeted through deepfakes. All that’s needed is an image of someone’s face. Even professional work images can be used.</p>
<p>Although law reform alone won’t solve this socio-legal problem, it can signal the issue is being taken seriously. We need laws specifically targeting <a href="https://theconversation.com/taylor-swift-deepfakes-a-legal-case-from-the-singer-could-help-other-victims-of-ai-pornography-222113">non-consensual deepfake porn</a>. </p>
<p>In Australia, there are <a href="https://www.imagebasedabuse.com/the-laws-in-australia/">image-based sexual abuse offences</a> in every Australian state and territory except Tasmania, as well as at the federal level. However, only some laws specifically mention digitally altered images (including deepfakes). </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1752698697769443393"}"></div></p>
<p>Technology companies could also do a lot more to proactively detect and moderate deepfake porn. They need to prioritise embedding “<a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/industry/safety-by-design">safety by design</a>” approaches into their services from the outset. This could mean:</p>
<ul>
<li>designing and testing AI with potential misuses in mind</li>
<li>using watermarks and other indicators to label content as synthetic<br></li>
<li>“nudging” users to refrain from certain behaviours (such as using pop-ups to remind them about the importance of consent). </li>
</ul>
<p>Research shows there are gaps in public understanding of deepfakes and how to detect them. This further highlights <a href="https://theconversation.com/deepfakes-how-to-empower-youth-to-fight-the-threat-of-misinformation-and-disinformation-221171">a need for digital literacy</a> and education on the difference between consensual and non-consensual uses of intimate images, and the harms of non-consensual deepfake porn.</p>
<p>Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need to address the underlying systemic inequalities that contribute to technology-facilitated abuse against women and gender-diverse people. This includes recognising deepfake porn for the often-gendered problem it is – for celebrities and non-celebrities alike.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/celebrity-deepfakes-are-all-over-tiktok-heres-why-theyre-becoming-common-and-how-you-can-spot-them-187079">Celebrity deepfakes are all over TikTok. Here's why they're becoming common – and how you can spot them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit the <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-topics/image-based-abuse">eSafety Commissioner’s website</a> for help with image-based abuse. In immediate danger, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222268/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Henry receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), Google, and the Victorian Attorney General's Office. She is also a member of the Australian eSafety Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Witt receives funding from Google.</span></em></p>There’s nothing surprising about the fake explicit images going viral. It happens to women celebrities frequently – but anyone can be targeted.Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT UniversityAlice Witt, Research Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2203252024-01-29T19:05:26Z2024-01-29T19:05:26ZDassi Erlich and her sisters were ‘easy pickings for predators’. With their abuser Malka Leifer’s conviction – and a new book – they take control<p>Dassi Erlich was groomed and abused from when she was in year ten, by the principal of her Ultra-Orthodox Jewish school, who knew about her difficult home life. Last year, after a 15-year campaign, her abuser, Malka Leifer, who had fled to Israel, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/24/malka-leifer-jailed-child-sex-abuse-sentence-school-principal-15-years">was tried and sentenced</a>, convicted of 18 charges of sexual abuse against Erlich and her sister, Elly. (She was acquitted of charges involving a third Erlich sister, Nicole.)</p>
<p>At the very end of Dassi Erlich’s account of abuse, trauma, and recovery through the slowly grinding mills of justice, she lists places where those who experience abuse may find help: including <a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/">Kids Helpline</a>, <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/">Lifeline</a> and <a href="https://www.wlsa.org.au/">Women’s Legal Services</a>. </p>
<p>But when her need was most acute, Erlich could not have contacted any of these services. She had absorbed the message that contact with the world outside her family’s enclosed community was a sin.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: In Bad Faith – Dassi Erlich with Ellen Whinnett (Hachette)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>As the <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/">Royal Commission into Institutional Abuse</a> has revealed, coercive control comes easily to patriarchal institutions – and Melbourne’s Adass Israel community is particularly patriarchal and controlling. </p>
<h2>Adass Israel ‘evokes 19th-century Europe’</h2>
<p>As with most ultra-Orthodox Judaism, <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adass-jeshurun-adass-jisroel">Adass Israel</a> originated in 19th-century Europe as a conservative reaction to liberal secularism. The cut of the men’s black silk coats worn with white shirts, and their mink hats, come from that time and place. </p>
<p>The Australian congregation was only formed in 1939, but the tiny enclave within East St Kilda and Ripponlea where Melbourne’s Adass Israel community lives effectively evokes 19th-century Europe. </p>
<p>Its members live without television, radio or secular newspapers. Internet access and telecommunications are strictly regulated. Lives revolve around the synagogue and festivals of faith. Most of the approximately 250 families are descended from immigrants who arrived as Holocaust survivors in the years after World War II. That collective memory colours responses to any perceived threat.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570783/original/file-20240123-19-btnti9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ultra-Orthodox community Dassi Erlich (pictured) grew up evokes 19th-century Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this community, Erlich’s family were outsiders. Her parents had joined a generation later, as converts to Orthodoxy after emigrating from England. She notes that as a result, “my mother was on a mission to prove her worth to the Adass community”.</p>
<p>The children suffered for her ambition, and from her unpredictable rages and punishments. Erlich writes that from a young age, she realised her mother’s rage “had no rhyme or reason, no trigger we could predict”. On one memorable occasion, her mother cut the faces from her daughters’ dolls, as they were “idols”. The children were punished by being deprived of food and even the ability to go to the toilet at night. </p>
<p>The community’s rules are many. Women’s dresses have long sleeves, while thick stockings cover their legs. Wigs or scarves conceal their hair. Modesty is all. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments">613 commandments</a> extracted from the Torah govern every aspect of daily life, including the timing of sexual relations between married couples. There is no birth control. Large families are the norm. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1699&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570772/original/file-20240123-23-77i0s4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1699&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dassi at her wedding, aged 19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People marry young, shortly after the legal age of consent. Marriages are arranged via matchmakers, and couples have few meetings before their wedding. Erlich writes that the first time she had an unsupervised conversation with her former husband, Shua Erlich, was on their wedding day. </p>
<p>Such is the fear of contamination by gender, unrelated girls and boys do not mix after they turn three. At the school for girls, the modified curriculum teaches to keep the commandments, to be good wives and mothers, to obey both future husbands and the religious authorities. Descriptions of animal or human reproductive organs are off the agenda. </p>
<p>In adolescence, Dassi Erlich became upset at the way her father would grab her and hold her close to his body, but did not understand either his motivation or her response.</p>
<p>Such children are vulnerable, easy pickings for predators. The Erlich sisters, with their difficult mother, were especially so.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/malka-leifer-found-guilty-of-sexual-abuse-of-former-students-199582">Malka Leifer found guilty of sexual abuse of former students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘It was just a woman’</h2>
<p>When Dassi Erlich was in year nine, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/court-told-of-principals-plea-to-alleged-abuse-victim-20150507-ggwb1q.html">in December 2002</a>, a new principal was appointed to the girls’ school. Malka Leifer had come from Israel with excellent references and appeared to be everything this devout congregation could desire. Erlich writes of “the respect and awe” the schoolgirls felt in the presence of this charismatic woman, who exuded authority. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570778/original/file-20240123-23-hpx2yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Dassi as an Adass Israel school student.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette Australia</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>At first, the child was thrilled to be noticed, to be singled out for particular attention, to be told she was “special” and not stupid. Her mother was flattered when Leifer offered to give her daughter private lessons out of school hours, to advance her religious education.</p>
<p>Erlich wrote of these “lessons” that “I never found my words” to object to the continuing assaults on her body. She lacked the language, the knowledge or the power to speak out. The account of her inability to escape is hard to read, but is also hard to stop reading. The abuse only ended with her wedding, in September 2006, when she was 19. Its consequences never ended.</p>
<p>It was only some years later, when she was in Israel and being counselled for her ongoing depression, that Erlich recognised what had happened to her. She then discovered two of her sisters had also been abused, under similar circumstances. Without language, without knowledge, they had not been able to confide in each other.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/">Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse</a> uncovered that when abuse is discovered, the standard response of many religious institutions is to conceal the evidence. It is hardly surprising the Adass community reacted to the news of the principal’s criminal behaviour in the same way.</p>
<p>In 2008, Leifer vanished overnight from both the school and Australia – before any formal complaint could be made. When the issue was raised, the rabbi’s response was: “Mrs Leifer should not be considered guilty of any crime as there has been no investigation.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570774/original/file-20240123-29-vhbibo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At first, Dassi Erlich (back row, face featured) was thrilled to be noticed by her school principal, Malka Leifer (front row, far right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette Australia</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Given the circumstances, it is hardly surprising Erlich suffered from recurring mental health issues in the following years. Her religion controlled every aspect of her life, but could not save her from being raped. One rabbi, on hearing of Leifer’s acts of abuse, said, “What’s the big deal? It was just a woman.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/holy-womans-fleshy-feminist-spiritual-pilgrimage-is-a-warning-against-religious-coercive-control-185388">Holy Woman's fleshy, feminist spiritual pilgrimage is a warning against religious coercive control</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Unrestrained power, control and authority</h2>
<p>In the way it charts her pathway towards healing, <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/dassi-erlich/in-bad-faith-inside-a-secret-ultra-orthodox-sect-and-the-brutal-betrayal-it-tried-to-hide">In Bad Faith</a> becomes more than an indictment of a fundamentalist misogynist sect. There are heroes as well as villains. </p>
<p>When Erlich becomes suicidal after the birth of her daughter, her husband’s liberal Jewish father pays for her admission to the <a href="https://www.ramsaymentalhealth.com.au/albertroad">Albert Road psychiatric clinic</a>. She gives full credit to both her therapists and her fellow patients as she maps her slow walk to self-realisation and the need to reject the rules she had always lived by.</p>
<p>The end of her marriage was inevitable, as were her many missteps on the way to freedom. But her stumbles are relatively minor compared to the trauma she experienced.</p>
<p>In enclosed sects, whatever their complexion, those who leave and speak out against misbehaviour are shunned, often losing all contact with their families. In this, Dassi Erlich is fortunate: her siblings have always stood with her. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570780/original/file-20240123-27-twlqdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Erlich sisters always stood together. Here, they’re pictured on a visit to Israel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette Australia</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Their support was essential when she eventually made a formal complaint to the Victorian police and initiated a civil case against the school. By quoting extensively from the court’s judgement, Erlich makes clear that the formal, legal acknowledgement of the crime committed against her was just as important to her healing as the record damages she was awarded.</p>
<p>The response of the Orthodox Jewish community to the truths exposed by Erlich and her siblings was as expected. As well as abusive phone calls and online trolling, there has been a subtle public relations campaign. </p>
<p>In 2016, a year after the judge in Erlich’s civil case ruled that “Leifer’s appalling misconduct […] was built on this position of unrestrained power, control and authority that had been bestowed on her by the Board”, Adass Israel was the subject of a television documentary, <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/strictly-jewish-2016/33836/">Strictly Jewish</a>. </p>
<p>This sanitised account of the community blithely dismisses the abuse as an unfortunate event, quickly excised. At the time the documentary was aired, members of the Adass community were continuing to actively financially support Leifer, who was living free in Israel.</p>
<h2>Global quest for justice</h2>
<p>In 2014, when Malka Leifer was first arrested, Australian authorities had a reasonable expectation she would soon be extradited to face trial. Instead, she was released from custody, feigning a mental illness that had turned her into a zombie-like state. There is a certain irony in a perpetrator masquerading as being mentally ill, after inflicting enduring pain on the minds of her victims.</p>
<p>The book details the behaviour of Israeli medical, legal and political figures in their efforts to prevent Leifer from facing trial. Medical reports were falsified, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/litzman-gets-minor-fine-no-jail-for-shielding-alleged-pedophile-leifer-from-justice/">the Israeli minister for health was implicated</a> in corruption of due process. Leifer was one of their own. </p>
<p>It is hard not to contrast the crude tribalism of the Israeli political establishment with that of the Australian one. Jewish politicians, both Liberal and Labor, led their colleagues in supporting the sisters’ quest to bring Malka Leifer to judgement. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570776/original/file-20240123-19-bz731n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian Jewish politicians, including Josh Burns (pictured) supported the sisters’ quest for justice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Malcolm Turnbull <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/31/malka-leifer-how-a-long-running-child-sexual-abuse-case-tested-australias-relationship-with-israel">formally raised the scandal</a> of Leifer’s protected status in a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu. When the extradition case stalled, the Australian parliament, in a motion jointly moved by Josh Burns, Dave Sharma and Anthony Albanese, unanimously called for Mrs Leifer to be returned to face trial. Our diplomats made it clear her presence was required.</p>
<p>Erlich’s account of how her predator was <a href="https://theconversation.com/malka-leifer-found-guilty-of-sexual-abuse-of-former-students-199582">eventually brought to justice</a> shows how well these siblings learnt to work with the once unfamiliar outlet of social media. After their Facebook group was trolled by Leifer’s supporters, they established a Twitter thread, #bringleiferback. </p>
<p>This became a conduit for supporters in Israel to reveal more information, including evidence Malka Leifer had been appointed to the school in Australia after similar acts of abuse in Israel. </p>
<p>Supporters infiltrated the enclosed Israeli community where Leifer was living, using concealed cameras to show the falsity of the claims made about her ill health. After the footage was sent to Interpol, she was re-arrested.</p>
<p>Although the extradition, trial and conviction of Malka Leifer was a group effort, full credit for bringing her to justice must go to the sisters – Dassi Erlich, Elly Sapper and Nicole Meyer. In their single-minded pursuit of their abuser, they are like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Furies">the Furies</a>, Ancient Greece and Rome’s goddesses of vengeance, hunting down those who have committed evil. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-extradition-between-countries-and-how-does-it-work-124637">Explainer: what is extradition between countries and how does it work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is a very self-aware memoir: Erlich and her sisters know they need to take control of their own narrative. They’ve worked with local and international media to ensure their story – of abuse and the protection of the guilty – is fully exposed.</p>
<p>In Bad Faith is itself a part of this process of shaping the narrative – not the least because a draft of the manuscript became a document in the criminal trial. Dassi Erlich gives due credit to both her editor Ellen Whinnett, who is rightly credited as a co-author, and to the many others who helped her find her words. But this is her book, and one to be proud of.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Mendelssohn has in the past received funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>Dassi Erlich details the crime, the cover-up and her eventual victory in court against Malka Leifer, the former school principal who abused her.Joanna Mendelssohn, Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2154152024-01-24T13:28:09Z2024-01-24T13:28:09ZHealing from child sexual abuse is often difficult but not impossible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569798/original/file-20240117-25-rmsvl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C84%2C5548%2C3623&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most child sexual abuse involves people the children know.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/black-and-white-image-of-a-girl-feeling-guilty-royalty-free-image/1252367851?phrase=sexual+abuse+child&adppopup=true">ajijchan via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/08/02/patrick-wojahn-pleads-guilty-child-pornography/">mayor</a>, a <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/karate-instructor-arrested-for-child-sex-abuse-police.amp">karate instructor</a>, a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/baltimore/news/ex-baltimore-cop-accused-of-abusing-children-at-wifes-owings-mills-daycare-appears-in-court/">former cop</a>, an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/09/29/child-porn-meek-journalist-sentenced/">award-winning journalist</a> and a <a href="https://abc13.com/robert-l-carter-houston-pastor-impregnates-child-decadelong-sex-assault-arrest-report/13885173/">pastor</a>. All five of these individuals in positions of authority or trust made headlines within the past year in connection with childhood sexual abuse.</p>
<p>Beyond the headlines and whatever punishments are meted out, each heinous case is alleged to involve a child who endured unjustifiable suffering and is left with the burden of carrying the weight of this trauma.</p>
<p>As a child <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&hl=en&user=fdZFeHwAAAAJ">clinical psychologist</a> who regularly provides therapy for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, I can attest that traveling the uphill path to healing from such experiences is arduous – but it is possible.</p>
<h2>How many children endure sexual abuse?</h2>
<p>Child sexual abuse is sadly a common occurrence. About 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys in the United States are subjected to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childsexualabuse/fastfact.html">child sexual abuse</a> – maltreatment of a child involving <a href="https://www.rainn.org/articles/child-sexual-abuse">molestation, rape, prostitution, pornography and any sexual contact without consent</a>. </p>
<p>According to the most recent federal data, approximately 60,000 children were <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/data-research/child-maltreatment">confirmed victims of sexual abuse in 2021</a>.</p>
<p>However, true rates of child sexual abuse are unknown, as only 10% of cases are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2492">reported to law enforcement</a>. An estimated 60% to 70% of adults who were sexually abused as children <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8971.11.1.194">kept it a secret throughout their childhood</a>. </p>
<h2>Who are the perpetrators?</h2>
<p>The majority of child sexual abuse perpetrators – 93% – <a href="https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence">are someone the child knows</a>. Thirty-four percent of perpetrators are family members, and <a href="https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence">only 7% are strangers</a>.</p>
<p>Father figures and male family members are the abusers in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.111.2.329">more than a quarter of child sexual abuse cases</a>.</p>
<p>Evidence points to younger children being more likely to be abused sexually by a family member <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/JFN.0000000000000063">than by an acquantance</a>. Around 49% of sexual abuse cases against children under 5 were committed by a relative, <a href="https://www.nationalcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CSA-Perpetrators.pdf">versus about 24% for children aged 12 to 17</a>. </p>
<p>In such cases, children are particularly vulnerable to coercion and secrecy. This can lead to greater likelihood of the child sexual abuse going unreported due to fear, guilt or shame, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2492">concern about getting into trouble</a>.</p>
<h2>How have the internet and social media changed things?</h2>
<p>As more children have access to various online platforms, they may become even more susceptible to unwanted sexual conversation, grooming and online sexual abuse. Teenagers, rather than younger children, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children10081306">at greatest risk for encountering a sexual perpetrator online</a>.</p>
<p>A recent study found that 1 in 15 teens are exposed to unwanted sexual material online, while 1 in 9 are exposed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.03.012">sexual conversation by adults or peers</a>. Approximately 8.5% of adults who were sexually abused during childhood reported meeting a perpetrator online, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children10081306">via social media or other online apps</a>.</p>
<p>Since the dangers that youth face online mirror dangers in real world settings, teaching internet safety skills in the context of sexual abuse and bullying education is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020916257">encouraged by researchers</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s different for extremely young victims?</h2>
<p>Research suggests that about 30% of child sexual abuse cases <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200303000-00006">involve children age 4-7</a>.</p>
<p>Preschool-age children who were sexually abused <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs44201312700">reported more depressive symptoms</a> than preschool-age children who were not abused. Moreover, younger age of abuse predicts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.116.1.176">worse future mental health problems</a>, including anxiety, depression and behavioral difficulties.</p>
<p>Due to their limited understanding and knowledge, young children are at a significant risk for being “<a href="https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/child-grooming/">groomed,</a>” especially by those in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2020.1801935">positions of trust</a>, and may be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.020">less likely to disclose abuse</a>.</p>
<p>Developmental problems are also a cause for concern if abuse occurs during the 0 to 5 age range – <a href="https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/understanding-brain-development-in-babies-and-toddlers/">the most pivotal time for brain development</a>. Compared to adolescents, younger children are more likely to display <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/10292-002">physical trauma-related symptoms</a>, such as sexualized behaviors, wetting accidents and other developmental delays, following abuse. </p>
<p>Despite their age, younger children benefit from <a href="https://www.nctsn.org/resources/sexual-development-and-behavior-children-information-parents-and-caregivers">learning about sexual behaviors, boundaries and private parts</a>. They make the most progress in trauma therapy <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-020-00334-0">with caregiver participation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A therapist listens to a young female speak." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569801/original/file-20240117-19-wajyxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Therapy can help survivors of child sexual abuse regain a sense of control over their lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mature-female-counselor-gives-unrecognizable-young-royalty-free-image/1399285418?phrase=girl+in+therapy&adppopup=true">SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>What does it take for children to recover?</h2>
<p>The most important aspects for recovery after trauma are abuse disclosure, consistent support from safe adult caregivers, and therapy. Children who are exposed to any inappropriate sexual activity or abuse are strongly encouraged to report the abuse to a trusting adult. The sooner children report being a victim of sexual abuse, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2492">fewer future psychological difficulties</a> they experience. Additionally, caregiver support strongly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(95)00077-L">predicts resilience</a> in children who were sexually abused. </p>
<p>Regrettably, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2492">most common reasons</a> cited for not disclosing child sexual abuse were: shame, believing the incident was not serious enough, lack of proof, self-blame, fear of negative reactions from others, and fear of not being taken seriously. So, if a child decides or agrees to report the abuse to law enforcement authorities, caregivers and professionals are urged to be supportive to lessen the negative impact of disclosure. </p>
<p>Children who have endured sexual abuse may benefit greatly from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13094">trauma-focused therapy</a>. Goals of trauma-focused therapy often include learning skills to help deal with difficult thoughts, feelings and behaviors following the abuse. The therapy also involves talking through their trauma in a safe and healthy way, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40920-7_6">learning safety skills</a> such as healthy boundaries and assertive responses to threatening situations.</p>
<h2>Are normal lives possible?</h2>
<p>Child sexual abuse can have far-reaching and lifelong consequences. Children who endure sexual abuse demonstrate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.027">more difficulty understanding and managing their emotions</a>, and experience more <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs44201312700">anxiety, depression and behavioral problems</a>.</p>
<p>Adults who were sexually abused as children are at greater risk for worse physical health, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01772.x">gastrointesinal, sexual health, neurological and respiratory problems, as well as chronic pain</a>. They are also at greater risk for worse psychological health, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30286-X">post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, among other disorders</a>. Further, they are at greater risk for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2534">substance abuse</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.01.015">marital problems and suicide</a>.</p>
<p>These things notwithstanding, many children are quite resilient. They can and do recover from such experiences, especially with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2492">abuse disclosure</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(95)00077-L">caregiver support</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13094">treatment</a>. </p>
<p>Therapy and support from caregivers contribute greatly to healing and protection against future physical and psychological consequences. One of the core tenets of trauma-focused therapy is for an individual to regain control over their life, experiences and trauma.</p>
<p>With the support of loved ones and specialized, professional help, children and adults who have endured child sexual abuse can be resilient and successful in all domains of life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215415/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Khan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With therapy and social support, children and adults who experienced child sexual abuse can regain a sense of control over their lives.Maria Khan, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Medicine & Psychiatry, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206332024-01-14T12:58:36Z2024-01-14T12:58:36ZCanadian schools need to address digital sexual violence in their curricula and policies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568379/original/file-20240109-25-we196t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=129%2C68%2C5622%2C3164&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Technology-facilitated sexual violence can have significant consequences on a person's health and well-being.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadian-schools-need-to-address-digital-sexual-violence-in-their-curricula-and-policies" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) is on the rise among Canadian youth. In an <a href="https://plan-international.org/uploads/2022/02/sotwgr2020-execsummary-en-3.pdf">international study</a> that included Canada, over half of the young women and girls surveyed reported being sexually threatened and/or sexually harassed online. This kind of sexual violence can include online sexual harassment, extortion, receiving unsolicited explicit images and non-consensual distribution of intimate images.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1710636">More than four in five undergraduate students in Canada</a> have reported experiencing online sexual violence, including sexually explicit comments, emails or messages.</p>
<p>Not all youth face the same risks with online harms. People with marginalized races, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations are significantly more likely to experience TFSV. A recent report from Statistics Canada found that young women and non-binary youth are <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230221/dq230221c-eng.htm">more likely to be targets of online abuse</a> than young men. Black people, Muslim people and LGBTQ+ people experience <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/report/online-hate-and-harassment-american-experience-2023">higher rates of online harassment</a> than their peers.</p>
<p>Technology-facilitated sexual violence can have significant consequences on a person’s health and well-being. Young people who experience TFSV have reported <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-0032-4">increased social isolation</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515584344">fear and psychological distress</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1467891">adverse effects on their mental health</a>.</p>
<p>Given these negative impacts, it is imperative that schools take steps to address and prevent technology-facilitated sexual violence.</p>
<h2>Digital sexual violence in Canada</h2>
<p>Our team at the <a href="https://www.diydigitalsafety.ca/">DIY: Digital Safety</a> research project, along with the <a href="https://www.sieccan.org/">Sex Information and Education Council of Canada</a>, recently released a <a href="https://1332d589-88d9-46fd-b342-d3eba2ef6889.usrfiles.com/ugd/1332d5_40b7850d228a4c0b9e7ed54737fcb30b.pdf">report outlining how secondary schools across Canada can address TFSV</a> in their curricula and policies. We found that TFSV-related concepts are insufficiently addressed in Canadian schools, and that when TFSV is addressed, there are major gaps that need improvement.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="young woman with face in her hands sits in front of a laptop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568381/original/file-20240109-25-houuq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Technology-facilitated sexual violence can have significant consequences on a person’s health and well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Within educational curricula, very few provinces and territories recognize that sexual violence can occur online. Many do not include content on TFSV-specific online behaviours or discuss the legal consequences of online behaviour. </p>
<p>Three provinces and one territory — Ontario, British Columbia and Yukon (which uses B.C.’s curriculum) — provide students with the most comprehensive understanding of TFSV. Students there learn about the potential harms related to technology (like cyberbullying, sexual predators and sexting risks) and that people can be targeted because of their gender or sexual orientation. Students also learn about the legal ramifications of cyberbullying and TFSV-related behaviours.</p>
<p>Although Ontario, British Columbia and Yukon are the most thorough in addressing TFSV, educational approaches across the provinces and territories are not comprehensive. We recommend that all Canadian secondary schools teach their students that sexual violence can occur online, inform them about the online and offline impacts of TFSV and educate them about the harms and legal consequences related to TFSV.</p>
<h2>Specific legislation needed</h2>
<p>Twelve provinces and territories (all but Nunavut) have some form of anti-bullying provisions in their educational legislation, which often includes cyber, electronic or written bullying. </p>
<p>Only <a href="https://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/40-4/b038e.php">Manitoba</a>, <a href="https://novascotia.ca/cyberscan/documents/What%20You%20Need%20To%20Know%20about%20the%20Intimate%20Images%20and%20Cyber-Protection%20Act.pdf">Nova Scotia</a> and <a href="https://www.assembly.nl.ca/legislation/sr/statutes/i22.htm">Newfoundland and Labrador</a> currently have specific legislative provisions that prohibit TFSV-related behaviours, like sharing or distributing intimate images without consent. These legislative provisions are not directly related to educational policy, but they are tools that young people and schools may choose to engage with.</p>
<p>Provincial non-consensual intimate image laws can help students respond to TFSV. <a href="https://civilresolutionbc.ca/blog/implementation-update-intimate-images-protection-claims-december-2023/">British Columbia is the most recent province</a> to introduce such legislation, as well as criminal laws such as the extortion, child luring and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.</p>
<p>It is necessary to recognize the power of language used in legislation, educational curricula and policies. Using cyberbullying as an umbrella term to refer to TFSV-related behaviours <a href="https://1332d589-88d9-46fd-b342-d3eba2ef6889.usrfiles.com/ugd/1332d5_0b255967851a48c580f8a3c23e786399.pdf">may diminish or dismiss the harms</a> experienced by young people. This may also impact the help that students receive and the resources available to them, such as their ability to access legal or policy supports related to sexual violence.</p>
<p>Our analysis found that TFSV-related behaviours are rarely addressed within the context of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc&ab_channel=NationalAssociationofIndependentSchools%28NAIS%29">intersectionality</a>. Educational curricula in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I. recognize how unequal power dynamics and control contribute to violence and abuse, while Ontario considers how power dynamics contribute to discrimination and biases. </p>
<p>However, educational curricula in these provinces do not consider how power dynamics and oppression experienced by people from marginalized groups can contribute to technology-facilitated sexual violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young black man looks at a laptop screen with a sad expression" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568382/original/file-20240109-17-nm2gb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">People from marginalized races, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations are significantly more likely to experience TFSV.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Québec consider intersectionality in supplemental or optional resources, but not in core curricular documents. Considerations of equity and diversity should not be optional in students’ education. An intersectional approach to TFSV is necessary to help students gain a comprehensive understanding of this problem and its impacts on diverse populations.</p>
<h2>How schools can address TFSV</h2>
<p>Secondary schools should include specific references to TFSV in their curricula and policies. It is important that schools empower students and refrain from taking a risk-based approach to technology. A risk-based approach emphasizes potential harms, and it can stigmatize students or make them feel ashamed when they experience TFSV. </p>
<p>We encourage schools to empower students and help them understand what tools and resources are available when they want to seek support or help others respond to TFSV. We also recommend that students learn about their technology-related rights and responsibilities, as well as what resources and supports are available to them when they need help. </p>
<p>Lastly, schools need to include information on how power and intersecting forms of oppression factor into students’ experiences with TFSV. Our research team is <a href="https://1332d589-88d9-46fd-b342-d3eba2ef6889.usrfiles.com/ugd/1332d5_b9f805201c9b4b728328ea1eab816b8f.pdf">developing resources</a> <a href="https://7d39c02a-892f-4f1e-aba6-a7594a2e8b0b.usrfiles.com/ugd/7d39c0_92d1199b8d7d4c4cb751a67211772401.pdf">for</a> <a href="https://www.diydigitalsafety.ca/resources/support-services">youth</a>, translated into <a href="https://www.diydigitalsafety.ca/infographic-nudes-and-the-law">13 languages, including Indigenous languages</a>, to help them learn about TFSV.</p>
<p>With new technologies being developed and the rise of artificial intelligence, there is a growing concern about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sextortion-conversations-1.7048542">how students in Canada learn about online sexual harms</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/teen-girls-are-being-victimized-by-deepfake-nudes-one-family-is-pushing-for-more-protections-1.6670589">how youth are protected from such harms</a>. Secondary schools across the country should <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/education-curriculum-sexual-violence-deepfake-1.7073380">update their curricula and enact policies</a> to protect young people and teach them how to respond to TFSV.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Dietzel receives funding from iMPACTS: Collaborations to Address Sexual Violence on Campus; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant 895–2016-1026 (Project Director, Shaheen Shariff, Ph.D., James McGill Professor, McGill University).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexa Dodge receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaitlynn Mendes receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nikita Kalwani receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzie Dun receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p>It’s time we stop treating young people’s experiences in digital and physical spaces as distinct and mutually exclusive.Christopher Dietzel, Postdoctoral fellow, the DIGS Lab, Concordia UniversityAlexa Dodge, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Saint Mary’s UniversityKaitlynn Mendes, Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender, Western UniversityNikita Kalwani, M.A. Student in School and Applied Child Psychology, Western UniversitySuzie Dunn, Assistant Professor, Law, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2190972023-12-06T23:19:27Z2023-12-06T23:19:27ZCSIS sexual assault allegations highlight the need for external oversight<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/csis-sexual-assault-allegations-highlight-the-need-for-external-oversight" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has launched a third-party <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/csis-to-probe-bc-office-allegations-1.7047055">workplace assessment</a> of its British Columbia office after <a href="https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/politics/a-predator-at-csis-officers-allege-rape-harassment-and-a-toxic-workplace-culture/article_01d8172c-aba4-5924-bef7-3e1b96dce0bb.html">serious allegations</a> of sexual assault, bullying and intimidation were recently made public. Whistleblowers raised allegations involving a senior officer who has been removed from the workplace.</p>
<p>In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the allegations are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/csis-claims-devastating-pm-1.7045128">“devastating” and “absolutely unacceptable”</a> and that the government was following up “very directly” on these issues.</p>
<p>Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. A pervasive toxic culture of abuse has been documented within CSIS. In 2017, five CSIS staff in the Toronto region <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/csis-lawsuit-employees-1.4205264">sued the Canadian government for $35 million</a>, claiming they had experienced racism, sexism and harassment. One of the plaintiffs in that case later said the agency’s internal complains process was “completely ineffective.” </p>
<p>CSIS Director David Vigneault said the assessment is aimed at resolving barriers to a safe workplace and that the culture at CSIS allowed inappropriate behaviour to “fester.” Yet, CSIS leadership remains unaccountable.</p>
<p>Vigneault is correct, action is overdue. However, the question is: why did it take this long, and why is this a workplace assessment and not a criminal investigation?</p>
<h2>CSIS Act prevents external oversight</h2>
<p>The recent complainants allege CSIS’s internal complaint procedure is deficient, leaving those who complain without access to outside assistance and open to reprisals. </p>
<p>This is due in part to the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-23/">Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act</a> which imposes stiff penalties for disclosing the identity of personnel involved in covert operations. That makes it extremely difficult for victims to seek external help if their work has national security implications.</p>
<p>The officers also believe the organization would conceal misconduct, making it challenging to pursue external redress. Reluctance to file complaints is exacerbated by this lack of trust in the system.</p>
<p>Federal employees face other legislative barriers when seeking support and remediation for being targets of workplace violence. <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/p-33.3/page-1.html">The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act (FPSLRA)</a> governs labour relations within the federal public service, including CSIS. </p>
<p>The FPSLRA relies on internal policies and procedures to investigate and remedy complaints. This essentially means government agencies have significant authority to investigate matters internally. </p>
<p>These legislative roadblocks place victims of abuse in a precarious situation where speaking out could have legal consequences. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/supreme-court-csis-lawsuit-1.6988647">the British Columbia Supreme Court</a> dismissed a former CSIS employee’s sexual assault and harassment complaint owing to lack of jurisdiction. The court noted that a “legislative scheme in place” — FPSLRA — meant the matter remained the jurisdiction of the employer, CSIS. </p>
<h2>Ottawa’s failure to tackle abuse</h2>
<p>CSIS is not alone in having flawed internal oversight of workplace bullying, harassment and sexual abuse. Time and time again, when left to police themselves, law enforcement agencies have mishandled sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment among employees.</p>
<p>The RCMP have routinely bungled internal misconduct files when entrusted to police themselves. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sexual-misconduct-military-survey-1.3868377">More than one-quarter of women in the Canadian Armed Forces</a> (CAF) say they have experienced sexual assault at least once while serving in the military.</p>
<p>To resolve <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/world/canada/military-sexual-misconduct-class-action.html">class-action lawsuits</a> brought by current and former military personnel alleging sexual assault, Canada put aside over $800 million in 2019. However, a thought-out national plan to stop, confront and change the CAF’s culture of sexualized violence is still missing. </p>
<h2>Urgent need for reform</h2>
<p>The current legislative framework to address workplace bullying, harassment and sexual violence is inadequate. Time and time again, organizations are left with the legal authority to investigate themselves when it comes to misconduct. Complaints are consistently mishandled, ignored or covered up. </p>
<p>A bold step would be to address workplace violence as a public health issue. Amending the <a href="https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-29.5/">Public Health Act</a> to address sexual abuse in the workplace would lead to progressive and positive change. </p>
<p>The federal government should create an independent national commission on workplace violence empowered to fully investigate allegations. And governments must make changes to federal and provincial labour codes to provide a legal basis for external oversight.</p>
<p>The CSIS allegations are the latest abuse scandal to rock Canada’s policing and security establishment. Those working in our government agencies work in service of Canada. They deserve protection and accountability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Walker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The complainants say CSIS’s internal complaint procedure is deficient, leaving people who complain open to reprisals without access to outside assistance.Jason Walker, Program Director & Associate Professor, Industrial-Organizational and Applied Psychology, Adler UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2181332023-11-23T11:45:14Z2023-11-23T11:45:14ZIf Kenya wants to help Haiti, it should push for colonial reparations not send in the police<p><em>As the security situation in Haiti deteriorates, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/kenyas-parliament-approves-police-deployment-haiti-2023-11-16/">Kenya</a> has offered to lead a new sort of UN mission to the country from 2024. In early October, the UN Security Council <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/02/haiti-un-security-force-kenya-gangs">authorised a Multinational Security Support mission</a> led by Kenya to confront the paramilitary-style gangs that control the capital city of Port-au-Prince and other parts of the Caribbean country.</em> </p>
<p><em>We asked <a href="http://www.jennygreenburg.com/research.html">Jennifer Greenburg</a>, who researches the effects of peacekeeping interventions in Haiti, some questions.</em></p>
<h2>What is the context in Haiti?</h2>
<p>The Multinational Security Support mission is a new form of international intervention. It’s authorised under <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-7">Chapter Seven</a> of the UN Charter. However, it’s not formally a peacekeeping mission, which would be composed of peacekeeping forces and (theoretically) regulated according to <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/standards-of-conduct">UN standards of conduct</a>.</p>
<p>The reticence to call this intervention a peacekeeping mission is a product of recent history. The <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/10/15/as-the-un-leaves-haiti-its-victims-still-wait-for-justice">last major UN peacekeeping mission</a> in Haiti – known by its French acronym <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/minustah">Minustah</a> and which ran from 2004 to 2017 – was responsible for <a href="https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/KeepingthepeaceJusticiaGlobal-4.pdf">killing civilians</a>. Peacekeepers fired machine guns from helicopters in the name of combating gangs in 2005. </p>
<p>Further, after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, faulty sanitation practices at a UN peacekeepers’ base introduced a <a href="https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Clinics/Haiti_TDC_Final_Report.pdf#page=6">cholera</a> strain in the country that killed at least 10,000 people. </p>
<p>Peacekeepers also <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/11/un-peacekeeping-has-sexual-abuse-problem">raped</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/they-put-a-few-coins-in-your-hands-to-drop-a-baby-in-you-265-stories-of-haitian-children-abandoned-by-un-fathers-114854">sexually abused</a> Haitians.</p>
<p>It’s no mystery why nobody wants to see blue helmets arrive in Haiti again. </p>
<p>The new mission is to be led by Kenya with troops participating from other Caribbean countries, such as Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda. The US has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/haiti-violence-united-nations-4acd3429d1bd84020efac538ba6c8746">pledged</a> US$100 million. </p>
<p>More than <a href="https://apnews.com/article/haiti-gang-violence-un-report-killings-5d3f7ff272b7303852869dfc67692a23">2,700 people</a> in Haiti have been reported murdered and 1,472 kidnapped in the eight months to June 2023, according to the UN. The numbers are likely to be higher. They don’t include indirect deaths caused by inadequate access to healthcare and nutrition, which is exacerbated by insecurity.</p>
<h2>What will the Kenyan police confront in Haiti?</h2>
<p>The question of whether they will go is still not decided.</p>
<p>Kenya’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67437951">parliament</a> has approved the mission but a court hearing on its constitutionality is scheduled for 26 January 2024. </p>
<p>If Kenya does deploy to Haiti, its police officers will confront a <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501746994/street-sovereigns/">complex</a> web of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/gangs-take-control-in-haiti-as-democracy-withers">more than 200 paramilitary-style criminal gangs</a>. They control territory across the capital city of Port-au-Prince and many other areas of the country. </p>
<p>Haiti’s insecurity and poverty are rooted in its punishment for winning freedom from racial slavery in 1804. <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-france-extorted-haiti-the-greatest-heist-in-history-137949">France forced Haiti</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/americas/haiti-history-colonized-france.html">repay</a> French slaveholders. This instigated a cycle of indebtedness and is how Haiti became, in the words of Haitian poet <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2008/12/toward-end-poverty-haiti#:%7E:text=In%20July%202006%2C%20Haitian%20poet,as%20described%20in%20the%20media.">Jean-Claude Martineau</a>, the only country with a last name: “the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/haiti/overview">poorest country</a> in the western hemisphere”.</p>
<p>Security was already in crisis before the 2021 <a href="https://theconversation.com/slain-haitian-president-faced-calls-for-resignation-sustained-mass-protests-before-killing-164131">assassination of de facto president Jovenel Moïse</a>. Today, gangs control about <a href="https://apnews.com/article/haiti-gangs-democracy-at-risk-7ddcea955fdd364e2b574e28daa71d03">two-thirds</a> of the country, which has a population of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=HT">11.6 million</a>. </p>
<p>There are more <a href="https://nacla.org/news/2021/political-anatomy-haiti-armed-gangs">guns</a> in Haiti now than before the last peacekeeping mission that ended in 2017. Like Haitian police, Kenyan police may find themselves <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/02/haiti-cops-outgunned-gangs">outgunned</a> by gangs who control (and trade in) vast troves of weapons.</p>
<p>Without in-depth knowledge of a complex and volatile situation, Kenyan police will somehow have to distinguish civilians from gang members, and gang members from police. </p>
<p>The notorious leader of the “G-9 Family and Allies”, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/21/who-is-haitis-sanctioned-gang-leader-jimmy-barbecue-cherizier">Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier</a>, is a former police officer. Lines between police, government and gangs are deliberately blurred. </p>
<p>Chérizier is one of multiple gangsters, police officers and government officials implicated in the <a href="https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Killing_With_Impunity-1.pdf">2018 massacre</a> of at least 70 civilians.</p>
<p>After the assassination of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57762246">Moïse</a>, the same political party responsible for this and <a href="https://web.rnddh.org/massacres-in-bel-air-and-cite-soleil-under-the-indifferent-gaze-of-state-authorities/?lang=en">multiple other massacres</a> remains in power. It continues to collude with gangs. </p>
<p>The Kenyan mission is allegedly coming to Haiti at the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/3/why-kenya-volunteered-to-lead-un-mission-to-haiti">request</a> of the Haitian government. But this government <a href="https://nacla.org/haiti-jovenel-moise-assassination-social-movements">doesn’t represent Haitian people</a>. It has massacred civilians by supplying gangs with information, weapons and uniforms through the police. </p>
<p>There is also a language issue: Kenyan troops speak English and Swahili. Haitians speak Krèyol and French.</p>
<h2>What are the concerns about Kenya’s police?</h2>
<p>The security support mission to Haiti will largely comprise Kenyan police, whom Kenyan civilians have described as treating them “<a href="https://theworld.org/stories/2016-05-23/police-officers-treat-nairobi-neighborhood-atm-machine-residents-say">like ATM machines</a>”. Extrajudicial <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230601015425/https://www.matharesocialjustice.org/who-is-next/">executions</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-art-of-bribery-a-closeup-look-at-how-traffic-officers-operate-on-kenyas-roads-185551">extortion</a> and <a href="https://www.citizen.digital/news/kenya-police-have-killed-15-people-injured-31-in-covid-19-curfew-enforcement-ipoa-334522">abuse</a> are well-documented practices of the police force now charged with restoring legitimate policing in Haiti. </p>
<h2>What’s in it for Kenya?</h2>
<p>Kenya stands to benefit economically from leading the mission. In September, the US and Kenya signed a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kenya-united-states-haiti-defense-austin-ed1496d72b426011f3e8a36a971ca12d">defence agreement</a> that gives Kenya resources and support to fight <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-al-shabaab-targets-kenya-and-what-the-country-can-do-about-it-87371">Al-Shabaab</a>. </p>
<p>Kenya’s own <a href="https://mod.go.ke/kenyas-peace-keeping-missions/#:%7E:text=Kenya%20has%20however%20remained%20cautious,little%20in%20peace%20enforcement%20operations.">defence ministry</a> has publicly stated that UN missions provide</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a rare opportunity to obtain UN allowances that are ordinarily not offered by the KDF (Kenya Defence Forces). </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Peacekeeping missions have also been an opportunity to gain international <a href="https://www.academia.edu/86172749/The_Strong_Arm_and_the_Friendly_Hand_Military_Humanitarianism_in_Post_earthquake_Haiti">credibility</a>, as my research in Haiti has shown. </p>
<h2>If not policing, what’s the best approach to solving Haiti’s crisis?</h2>
<p>Change in Haiti will not come through yet another UN or <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/07/haiti-kenya-invasion-gang-war-united-states/">outsourced</a> US intervention. </p>
<p>Speaking after UN approval of the Haiti mission, Kenya’s president William Ruto <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boCWMX3t0h8">said</a> Haitians were being punished for “choosing to be free human beings”. He was referring to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haitian-Revolution">country’s independence in 1804</a>. </p>
<p>In 2013, Britain agreed to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/uk-compensate-kenya-mau-mau-torture">compensate</a> 5,228 Kenyans who were tortured during the Mau Mau uprising against the colonial regime in the 1950s. Although the money hardly restores the dignity and livelihoods lost through colonialism, the decision to settle and award each claimant approximately US$4,000 is historic. </p>
<p>Real change for Haiti would begin with reparations. </p>
<p>If international bodies would only listen, <a href="https://www.haitiwatch.org/home/commissionforhaitiansolution">Haitian groups</a> representing broad swathes of civil society have been <a href="https://theworld.org/stories/2021-11-22/it-us-haitians-find-solution-haiti-crisis-adviser-says">vocal</a> about <a href="https://akomontana.ht/en/home/">what they want</a> and their <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/4/haiti_united_nations_forces">opposition</a> to a Kenyan-led intervention. </p>
<p>Money owed and respect deserved would be a more productive first step forward than <a href="https://jonathanmkatz.com/bigtruck">recycling</a> <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/killing-with-kindness/9780813553634/">pages</a> from the international community’s <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250284679/aidstate">playbook</a>. We need only look at Haiti today to see what violence this playbook has wrought.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Greenburg receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She has previously received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Association of American Geographers, Stanford University, the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, and the Department of Geography and the Graduate Division at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of At War with Women: Military Humanitarianism and Imperial Feminism in an Era of Permanent War (Cornell University Press).
</span></em></p>The security situation in Haiti must change – but another UN intervention may not be the way this happens.Jennifer Greenburg, Lecturer in International Relations, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2165262023-11-20T00:38:03Z2023-11-20T00:38:03ZA royal commission won’t help the abuse of Aboriginal kids. Indigenous-led solutions will<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556268/original/file-20231027-19-v9v7by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4933%2C3283&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/school-children-walking-away-royalty-free-image/905304924?phrase=Aboriginal+children&adppopup=true">GettyImages</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article mentions violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children. There are also mentions of racial discrimination, sexual abuse, and death.</em></p>
<p>The Voice referendum was an important rallying cry for recognition of Indigenous rights in 2023. This, and the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for Australians to engage with critical issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders that too often are neglected.</p>
<p>Instead, during the Voice campaign we witnessed a revival of racism that has long tarnished our nation.</p>
<p>Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Senator Nampijinpa Jacinta Price, two main figures who vocally opposed the Voice, have turned their attention to the very serious issue of Aboriginal child sexual abuse. Shortly after the referendum defeat, they attempted to pass a senate motion for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities. This has been <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/why-are-calls-for-a-royal-commission-into-child-sexual-abuse-causing-a-stir/dcylgg2o1">rejected</a> by parliament.</p>
<p>More than 100 Aboriginal <a href="https://www.snaicc.org.au/reject-a-royal-commission/#:%7E:text=The%20safety%20of%20children%20should,of%20real%20evidence%20being%20presented.">organisations</a> and leaders also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/20/first-nations-groups-reject-peter-dutton-royal-commission-child-abuse">rejected</a> the motion, questioning its motives.</p>
<p>They also expressed this motion was fuelling stereotypes about Indigenous peoples that were pushed throughout the referendum campaign. </p>
<p>We are Aboriginal women researchers with decades of experience in advocacy and law reform in violence against women and children. As academics and community members with lived experience we want to raise awareness from an ethical and informed position. Given our experience we agree the federal parliament was right to reject the motion by Senator Price calling for a Royal Commission.</p>
<p>Victims’ experiences are often complex and traumatic, even more so when the victim is a child from a marginalised community. Aboriginal child sexual abuse must be addressed responsibly. This issue should never be <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-wrote-my-phd-on-sexual-abuse-of-indigenous-children-dutton-never-asked-me-for-advice-20230124-p5cf5z.html">weaponised</a> or politicised.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy4n3jSvoJY","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Aboriginal children are at risk</h2>
<p>Sexual abuse of Aboriginal children is underlined by wider societal factors. These include <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/racism-puts-indigenous-kids-at-abuse-risk-while-culture-protects-them-royal-commission-finds/n5i2282vq">racism</a>, violence to women, <a href="https://journalindigenouswellbeing.co.nz/media/2018/10/6_Ralph.pdf">intergenerational trauma</a>, poverty, inequality, and disadvantage.</p>
<p>The Closing the Gap <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/socioeconomic/outcome-area12/rates-of-substantiation-by-type-of-abuse">dashboard</a> shows Indigenous children experience sexual assault at a rate of 2.7 per 1,000 children compared to 0.5 per 1,000 for non-Indigenous children. These numbers are based on reports made to child protective services.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213420300776">Research</a> indicates children are often sexually assaulted by persons known to them and their families, and offenders may be Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal. There are many barriers for young Aboriginal victims being able to report to authorities, such as fear of repercussion. </p>
<p>Experiences of racism also contribute to a lack of trust in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-first-nations-children-still-not-coming-home-from-out-of-home-care-196379">child protection</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/unreasonable-unjust-oppressive-how-a-police-program-targeted-indigenous-kids-216627">policing</a> authorities, due to historical and ongoing issues with these bodies. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-harrowing-stories-of-murdered-indigenous-women-and-the-failure-of-police-to-act-205655">New research reveals harrowing stories of murdered Indigenous women and the failure of police to act</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The harm of racist public debates</h2>
<p>The wider failure of the legal system to address sexual assault is now the subject of a <a href="https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/147-million-strengthen-sexual-assault-laws-and-prevent-harm-01-05-2023">national inquiry</a> by the Australian Law Reform Commission. It aims to strengthen sexual assault laws and the criminal justice response, and examine how to prevent further harm for victims.</p>
<p>The serious failures of the criminal justice system to address sexual abuse against Aboriginal children, and the prevalence of racism in the criminal justice system, are <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fRHIZmIQm2MC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=mcglade+our+greatest+challenges&ots=i7h8Zb1xfz&sig=u1aLpQlzrbeDd0TLlrF8zd-_5sA#v=onepage&q=mcglade%20our%20greatest%20challenges&f=false">well documented</a>. </p>
<p>Aboriginal children already have to deal with <a href="https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-017-0612-0">racism and discrimination</a>. This has been <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/health/indigenous-black-children-increasingly-experience-racism-reaj/index.html">even worse</a> with the Voice to Parliament referendum.</p>
<p>We have seen how racist perceptions of Aboriginal people and their communities can lead to harmful policies and practices. We have experienced this with the <a href="https://healingfoundation.org.au/stolen-generations/">Stolen Generations</a>, the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/10-impacts-of-the-nt-intervention/vzia753tx">Northern Territory Intervention</a>, the over-representation of our kids in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-first-nations-children-still-not-coming-home-from-out-of-home-care-196379">out-of-home care</a> and detention, resulting in <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sentencing-statistics/indigenous-young-people-in-detention#:%7E:text=In%20Victoria%2C%20the%20detention%20rate,any%20time%20during%20the%20year">children’s deaths</a>. </p>
<p>Laws and policies like these are underlined by racist assumptions. They have further diminished Indigenous peoples’ rights, agency, leadership and even ability to protect our own children. Making broad claims that denigrate Aboriginal families and communities as dysfunctional or predatory, is dangerous and harmful to our communities, including children.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1721645554122236050"}"></div></p>
<p>The call for a royal commission would not address these issues, what we need is self-determination in Aboriginal child protection.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-some-context-missing-from-the-mparntwe-alice-springs-crime-wave-reporting-199481">Here's some context missing from the Mparntwe Alice Springs 'crime wave' reporting</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Indigenous-led solutions are the only way forward</h2>
<p>Many inquiries and reports have made important recommendations about how best to address sexual abuse against Aboriginal children. These include <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/ielapa.167248957226768">the Gordon Inquiry</a>, the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/57.4%20%E2%80%9CLittle%20Children%20are%20Sacred%E2%80%9D%20report.pdf">Little Children are Sacred</a> inquiry and <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/399438">the Child Sexual Abuse Taskforce</a>.</p>
<p>These <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUIndigLawRw/2007/34.pdf">recommendations</a> include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>community decision-making in responses to problems, recognising their diversity and needs</p></li>
<li><p>responding to harms of violence through meaningful partnerships between Indigenous communities and sectors </p></li>
<li><p>consistent and appropriate long-term funding – acknowledging that trauma of violence and its associated social implications can remain long after any physical impacts have healed</p></li>
<li><p>strengthening the capacity of workforces to be responsive to the harms of violence against women – recognising that if a victim’s first point of contact is negative, the implications are significant.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Too many of these important recommendations have not been implemented and given effect by governments.</p>
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<h2>What needs to happen</h2>
<p>Aboriginal women have long called for Healing Centres and <a href="https://watermark.silverchair.com/bcz059.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA2YwggNiBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggNTMIIDTwIBADCCA0gGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMRzguCPokggCTPM0GAgEQgIIDGSV62EHl-M83x5a1KrWE5anwg-19zLAMavebCNZ_ycudVa3Yu3NDEB4QoVdIPuYyyaDWpQnMKgoIEPxvJ93HK8mKTY2MyiJw0GG0folE17doQEldJU9NsAKxbdZBU2TvkcnUpBMnzDxLKGRkITwQxq6pUzRd_igXIToWZhum2IC6yzgcS4N0ttQn4fwV5SeWGy1bvDmBiYo2yfK_sjEeOYzIBJA9yZ3HzceEHWHaP3BzBnGLqMuc5tfizzPRpPzJ2w_DV3_yQof3Er3KDlwhVdUCJGceypnNYzXMDTFMLTNydIr2xFa0t5IoVAiPUip9iRzZ0KNYBG27D2Wu6NiPipEg8IrHS_2ydbW5kn5clCNjobKfJ5OPk0Wpm2um1v6KNLLpMaY2tGuEZh-nMTaDxNDJ2X0qGjZ_u8JkH5f4Z6IfIko0ZVJqj8MDq-FDbW9riCqSg_jNnaEcBxZ8YymMQ8bpEtfk0z0etQajcv3NebZMFAnHKQc0pFwUrrx8rEwtEk2INtYSn1LiZCKrS6063fqOzFLOITYzBDCGIOZtNvcfLtY7YdJHUYhQKzOvg_Vx0aSzA5OxtQJ_32ZJPSokO25fBs3SbiglSMMzWT2L0QdLpvyAippkLEBmA_9cH2G-vVM8QpEnrR80npH27C1RRAvQVFsfySMMMw-IyqRug3YaBlWEkn6rH6sStTEvD9_GzgkavzEcu_XQgpva30hDeYoTddcHkPJXQ-1loRy0s3U0VoYr3v_B1ZS-rE269_LoyzmyXoWrlMNoU9tk336NnUxmxlhE3G7Jt-thuSLyBd7H7EC-B5m-0R9dAQxEA-ObS2YauqVWHQY-rGvKB81LjX59ioJs2jL_u6Fvki7Agsf38nEICKppvvJ63PCPVBNrAo2ORMQQU45PKR9YdLbckYVIYWy_9DuldTzWeBKj5i_OfiwelppAF2WkNeamZVUshRA2YamRylVy3B1mtzr115JSGfVW2XcxSdNI7kZumc6fPpdfIur-MlOcDajHWLeQYdRK0wEJ3CqmorB4Gf1kG0dc10eu7RvvQ24">culturally-informed</a> therapeutic approaches to Aboriginal family and domestic violence for women, children and families, while ensuring their safety. In our research, we have also looked at <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.5172/jfs.327.14.2-3.240">international examples</a> of Indigenous-led models addressing child sexual abuse. </p>
<p>The first dedicated plan of action to address violence towards Indigenous women and children resulted from Aboriginal women’s collective leadership and advocacy. This was alongside the work of Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar on the <a href="https://wiyiyaniuthangani.humanrights.gov.au/">Wiyi Yani Yu Thangani</a> project. Wiyu Yani Yu Thangani calls for reforms to increase the protection of Aboriginal children, especially women and girls, and to support <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/2022-wiyi-yani-u-thangani-first-nations-womens-safety-policy-forum-delegate-statement">community-controlled organisations</a> in doing this.</p>
<p>Aboriginal women also led advocacy for the development of <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/closing-gap/implementation-measures/standalone-first-nations-national-plan">The Stand Alone First Nations Plan</a>. This plan aims to address violence against First Nations women and children. In its creation, it centres the voices of First Nations children at risk of sexual abuse. It is now a commitment of government, with $4.1 million now allocated to its work.</p>
<p>But we must also begin to address the issue of racism in this country. According to a 2022 <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/national_anti-racism_framework_scoping_report_2022_0.pdf">Human Rights Commission report</a>, 52% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reported at least one incident of prejudiced behaviour in the last six months. This is consistent with other research indicating high levels of racism towards Aboriginal people, such as the finding that <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/three-in-four-people-hold-negative-view-of-indigenous-people">three out of four</a> non-Aboriginal Australians hold prejudice towards Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>Racism - <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IndigLawB/1997/72.html">even “unconscious” racism</a> against Aboriginal people can reinforce harmful stereotypes that seek to justify dangerous policies against those most vulnerable. Aboriginal children are already dealing with the added pressures of racism and witnessing the negative treatment of their communities. </p>
<p>The Human Rights Commission has undertaken a scoping report to commence the work of an anti-racism framework. There have also recently been moves to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/20/labor-to-speed-up-new-anti-racism-strategy-amid-voice-and-israel-hamas-war-tensions">speed up</a> the anti-racism strategy, because of rising racism sparked by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.</p>
<p>Increasing safety for Aboriginal children requires genuine and respectful relationships between governments and our communities. There needs to be dialogue, sustainable actions, resources and accountability to achieve results. </p>
<p>Australia has a long history of denying and turning a blind eye to racism, despite the harm it brings to Aboriginal children. The political debates and rising racism this year has shown just how far we have to go. </p>
<p>Addressing racism is critical to improving the lives of Aboriginal children. Their lives matter, and weaponising Aboriginal children to promote harmful political agendas must end.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyllie Cripps receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Government and State Governments to conduct research and evaluations. Details related to this are on her public profiles.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah McGlade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A royal commission into sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities is not the way to address abuse against Aboriginal children. Indigenous-led solutions are needed.Hannah McGlade, Associate professor, Curtin UniversityKyllie Cripps, Director Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, CI ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW), School of Philosophical, Historical & International Studies (SOPHIS), School of Social Sciences (SOSS), Faculty of Arts, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142232023-10-26T20:47:36Z2023-10-26T20:47:36ZHow organizations can address toxic workplace cultures to tackle sexual harassment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555910/original/file-20231025-17-jhgd2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5439%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sexual harassment is a human rights violation, yet too often it is framed as an interpersonal issue.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-organizations-can-address-toxic-workplace-cultures-to-tackle-sexual-harassment" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Sexual harassment continues to be a problem in Canadian workplaces, and organizations are not doing enough to address it. A 2022 report by the <a href="https://canadianlabour.ca/national-survey-reports-widespread-harassment-and-violence-in-workplaces/">Canadian Labour Congress</a> indicates nearly one in two workers have experienced sexual harassment in the previous two years.</p>
<p>A large part of the problem is how the issue is being viewed. Sexual harassment is a <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html#h-256790">human rights</a> violation, yet too often it is framed as an interpersonal issue. As a result, organizations <a href="https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/liliacortina-lab/wp-content/uploads/sites/970/2021/12/Cortina-Areguin-2021-Annual-Review.pdf">adopt solutions aimed at addressing individual behaviours</a>, like building out reporting mechanisms or beefing up reprimands. Solutions that frequently fail. Punishing harassers is important, but only doing that means we only remedy sexual harassment one offender at a time.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this “rotten apples” approach does little to reduce sexual harassment. For one, it overlooks the systemic causes of harassment, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000861">an organization’s culture and leadership</a>.</p>
<p>It also ignores <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24994/sexual-harassment-of-women-climate-culture-and-consequences-in-academic">research</a> showing that the best predictors of harassment are features of the organization, not the harasser. To move the needle on these issues, we need to fundamentally change how organizations deal with workplace sexual harassment. </p>
<h2>Reframing sexual harassment</h2>
<p>Simply put, sexual harassment is an organizational problem rather than just an interpersonal one. Therefore, we need to start looking at harassment in the context of the organization and the surrounding environment. </p>
<p>Sexual harassment is more likely to occur in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12280">organizations dominated by men</a> and defined by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12289">masculinity contest cultures</a>. These cultures tend to emphasize strength and stamina, such as carrying heavy workloads and working long hours, putting work before family, avoiding displays of weakness, taking unreasonable risks and engaging in dog-eat-dog competition.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An anxious-looking woman sits at a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555912/original/file-20231025-21-5cxl3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Punishing harassers is important, but organizations also need to address the workplace cultures that excuse or encourage harassment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Frequently accompanied by attempts to deny or justify harassment, masculinity contest cultures can compel individuals to preserve and protect their identities as “real men” by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.853">harassing others</a>.</p>
<p>For example, policing has been described as a <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315003566-4/cop-canteen-culture-nigel-fielding">cult of masculinity</a> that is often expressed through misogynistic attitudes toward women. The enforcement of strict masculine norms (e.g., show no weakness, strength and stamina, “being seen to be keen”) encourages officers to overemphasize their masculinity and repress emotions. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12286">Those who don’t conform are often subjected to ridicule, rejection and harassment</a>. </p>
<p>In a different context, academic culture promotes masculinity contests by rewarding signs of strength and stamina. Its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10608265221108205">promotion system, which penalizes faculty who take time off for health and family</a>, rewards overly competitive scholarship and dog-eat-dog behaviour, such as taking credit for the work of others.</p>
<p>It’s no wonder that research shows <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016164117">academia has the highest rate of sexual harassment</a> outside the military.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102945">When leaders promote, or fail to challenge, these toxic cultures</a>, they allow them to flourish and sexual harassment to persist.</p>
<h2>Beyond reporting</h2>
<p>Maintaining harassment-free workplaces is not only the right thing to do, but it is also required by <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html#h-256819">Canadian human rights</a> legislation. However, consideration of harassment as human rights violations tends to occur only when organizations are facing legal jeopardy. The implication is that organizations are more focused on achieving compliance rather than preventing sexual harassment. </p>
<p>To do things differently, leaders must examine the social norms, practices and belief systems that underpin sexual harassment. Simply having a formal reporting process won’t cut it. </p>
<p>The reality is that many people are reluctant <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000861">to speak up about sexual harassment. And when they do, they are often silenced</a>. Formal complaints are also after-the-fact measures that don’t proactively prevent harassment from happening in the first place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people sit in a circle consoling a man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555914/original/file-20231025-15-t8jhsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many people are reluctant to speak up about sexual harassment. And when they do, too often, they are silenced.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Periodic self-studies can offer important insights into how organizational culture and practices can be improved. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611120976090">climate surveys</a> typically assess employee perceptions of leadership, culture and workplace interactions and experiences.</p>
<p>These assessments can provide a deeper understanding of the organizational context that might enable sexual harassment. They can also serve as an early warning system to prevent toxic environments from developing.</p>
<h2>Change requires bold leadership</h2>
<p>Viewing harassment through an organizational lens means addressing the systemic factors that contribute to harassment. This could involve changing recruitment, training and mentoring processes to promote better behaviour. </p>
<p>These are big changes, requiring bold leaders who model ethical values, clearly communicate their expectations and hold people accountable for violating <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102945">ethical standards</a>.</p>
<p>Encouragingly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12274">research</a> shows that when leaders treat employees fairly, this sets an example for how members of the organization should treat one another. Fair practices also have the potential to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-11-2019-0132">counteract the effects of masculinity contest cultures and reduce harassment</a>.</p>
<p>Enhancing gender diversity in organizations, especially at the top, may also help drive down harassment rates. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361164373_Training_programs_and_reporting_systems_won't_end_sexual_harassment_Promoting_more_women_will">Hiring more women</a> and gender-diverse people, and integrating them throughout the organization can help create an environment in which power and influence are shared.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet to address sexual harassment. But we can reduce it by taking steps that improve organizational cultures. We can also reinforce the message that sexual harassment is a human rights violation requiring our best efforts to confront it, not an interpersonal problem left to others to sort out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Workman-Stark receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Athabasca University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer L. Berdahl receives funding from the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada and the University of British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lilia M. Cortina is an Advisory Group Member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education. She has previously received funding from the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p>To develop meaningful solutions, sexual harassment needs to be seen as an organizational issue and not just an interpersonal one.Angela Workman-Stark, Associate Professor, Organizational Behaviour, Athabasca UniversityJennifer L. Berdahl, Professor of Sociology, University of British ColumbiaLilia M. Cortina, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology, Women's & Gender Studies, and Management & Organizations, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138342023-10-17T12:19:52Z2023-10-17T12:19:52Z#UsToo: How antisemitism and Islamophobia make reporting sexual misconduct and abuse of power harder for Jewish and Muslim women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553742/original/file-20231013-15-4fnj3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C2585%2C1779&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Six years after the #MeToo hashtag went viral, women in minority communities still face extra challenges addressing harassment and abuse.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CongressSexualHarassment/a42b9d74f7c841c9a068c04d5e3e14ab/photo?Query=metoo&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=846&currentItemNo=40">AP Photo/Ted S. Warren</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>October 2023 marks the anniversary of #MeToo: six years since <a href="https://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/919659438700670976">actor Alyssa Milano’s tweet</a> calling for women to speak out about experiences of abuse went viral and helped launch a global movement. Ever since, #MeToo has been shorthand for people’s experiences with sexual harassment and assault, from <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/metoo-five-years-later-hollywoods-crafts-community-1235228124/">film sets</a> and office buildings to college campuses and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/silence-is-not-spiritual-the-evangelical-metoo-movement">religious communities</a>.</p>
<p>Many articles about #MeToo and religion focus on large churches, such as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/sexual-misconduct/metoo-goes-church-southern-baptists-face-reckoning-over-treatment-women-n880216">the Southern Baptist Convention</a> – spaces that are mostly white and Christian. Yet the phrase “Me Too” was first coined as a rallying cry against abuse by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/books/tarana-burke-unbound-metoo.html">a Black Christian activist, Tarana Burke</a>, back in 2006. Meanwhile, the perspectives of women in minority racial, ethnic and religious groups were often overshadowed – a focus of <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/hbi/research-projects/research.html">my research on Jewish studies and gender</a>.</p>
<p>These women face added challenges when they break the silence around sexual misconduct and abuse of power, as I document in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/UsToo-How-Jewish-Muslim-and-Christian-Women-Changed-Our-Communities/McGinity/p/book/9781032430355">my book “#UsToo</a>.” Many Jewish and Muslim women of color navigate three kinds of oppression simultaneously: sexism, racism and antisemitism or Islamophobia. </p>
<p>My interviews with dozens of women illustrate how race and religion affected their experiences of sexism, underscoring the need to normalize speaking out.</p>
<h2>’Dirty laundry’</h2>
<p>Jews and Muslims both experience prejudice, making them hesitant to <a href="https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/we-too/">draw attention to something negative</a> that others could weaponize. It is often harder for minority victims to speak out about abuse because they <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/07/it-s-time-for-muslims-to-talk-about-sexual-misconduct-among-our-islamic-preachers/">do not want to disparage their own faith communities</a>, for fear of fueling hated.</p>
<p>This problem is not exclusive to Jewish or Muslim communities but rather a general problem for all subcultures. Publicly airing communal “dirty laundry” is seen as precarious, both for the individual and for the ethnoreligious group. </p>
<p>Jewish and Muslim women in the United States are diverse, from <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/jewish-americans-in-2020/">different levels of religious observance</a> to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/07/26/demographic-portrait-of-muslim-americans/">ethnic identity</a>. For many, though, cultural taboos make it harder to speak out, compounding concerns about antisemitism and Islamophobia.</p>
<p>The Jewish concept of “lashon hora,” for example – Hebrew for “idle gossip” – sometimes deters women from <a href="https://jewishlink.news/lashon-hara-and-abuse-cover-ups/">calling out bad behavior</a>. Likewise, text in the Quran refers to talking about someone else’s actions <a href="https://zakirnaikqa.wordpress.com/tag/eating-the-flesh-of-your-own-brother/">as “backbiting</a>” – literally, “eating the flesh off your brother.” </p>
<p>The #MeToo movement has lessened the likelihood that, going forward, women will be shamed for speaking out. Women I spoke with recalled being warned previously against raising concerns within their communities and being told it would ruin the career or even the life of the abuser. However, these concepts continue to cause concern among those who do.</p>
<h2>Risks of silence and interdependence</h2>
<p>The insularity, sense of connection and interdependence within some minority communities can be conducive to abuses of power. Jewish philanthropy leader Maxyne Finkelstein <a href="https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/we-must-own-our-responsibility-as-women/">has referred to the sense of familiarity in some Jewish organizations as “living room syndrome</a>”: the tendency to act more casually than in a community or organization where people do not share as much cultural background.</p>
<p>In a poll of 2,376 people <a href="https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2019-predicting-and-preventing-islamophobia/">from many different faith groups</a>, Jews were the second-least likely to report unwanted sexual advances from a faith leader to law enforcement: just 12% of victims told police, according to the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/08/17/disobedient-women-and-churchtoo-stand-up-to-sexual-abuse-in-evangelicalism/">As in other religions</a>, however, <a href="https://www.jta.org/2019/08/14/ny/study-communal-orgs-prone-to-abuses-of-power">sexual misconduct and abuse of power</a> exist in many kinds of Jewish spaces, from <a href="https://www.jta.org/2019/03/18/lifestyle/how-jewish-summer-camps-are-talking-about-consent-in-the-age-of-metoo">summer camps</a> and foundations to synagogues and academia.</p>
<p>In June 2018, I publicly shared my experience of a prominent sociologist using the pretense of professional advice to sexually harass and assault me. Given his status, <a href="https://www.jta.org/2018/06/21/ny/american-jewrys-metoo-problem-a-first-person-encounter">my op-ed</a> was shared widely. Word spread quickly in the Jewish community, and other women came out of the woodwork about his behavior.</p>
<p>Initiatives around #MeToo in the Jewish community have taken off in the past few years. One of the most visible was the 2018 founding of the <a href="https://srenetwork.org/">SafetyRespectEquity Network</a>, which brought Jewish organizations together under one umbrella to strive toward eliminating sexual harassment and misconduct, as well as discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. <a href="https://www.jewishsacredspaces.org/">Sacred Spaces</a>, incorporated in 2016, is another organization that brings Jewish values to its work addressing and preventing abuse.</p>
<h2>Walking a tightrope</h2>
<p>Like Jewish women of color, many Muslim American women are triple minorities: female in a society where women are still “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/10379/the-second-sex-by-simone-de-beauvoir-newly-translated-by-constance-borde-and-sheila-malovany/">the second sex</a>”; a religious minority in a predominantly Christian country; and often judged by the color of their skin. Being <a href="https://philarchive.org/archive/FATNTMv2">a triple minority</a> exacerbates the challenges of speaking out about sexual harassment and assault.</p>
<p>In many ways, Muslim women of color had a steeper hill to climb than Jewish women, given the xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-muslims-are-portrayed-negatively-in-american-media-2-political-scientists-reviewed-over-250-000-articles-to-find-conclusive-evidence-183327">that have been prevalent in the U.S.</a> since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for ‘Breaking Silence’ (2017)</span></figcaption>
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<p>Nevertheless, some Muslim women affected by sexual misconduct have been working for years to bring it out of the communal closet and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/02/26/588855132/-mosquemetoo-gives-muslim-women-a-voice-about-sexual-misconduct-at-mecca">into the public eye</a>. In 2004, for example – two years before the phrase “Me too” was coined – a Muslim woman named Robina Niaz started <a href="https://www.tpny.org/services/">Turning Point</a>, an organization that offers counseling, advocacy and youth programs to help women and families understand that sexual abuse and violence are not their fault. </p>
<p>In 2017, Nadya Ali – a Ph.D. student in biology at the time – directed <a href="http://www.breakingsilencethefilm.com/">the film “Breaking Silence</a>,” which aimed to raise awareness of abuse in Muslim communities. Voted <a href="https://m.imdb.com/event/ev0003612/2017/1">best short documentary</a> at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, the film underscores that taboos around discussing sex did not prevent abuse; instead, they protected sexual predators and silenced women whom they abused. </p>
<p>Researchers found that although unwanted sexual advances from faith leaders were no more prevalent among Muslims than other faith groups, Muslims were slightly more likely than other victims to report the incident to law enforcement: 54% compared with 44%, according to <a href="https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2019-predicting-and-preventing-islamophobia/">the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding</a>. In almost all other religious groups, women are more likely to report sexual violence to another member of their faith community than to law enforcement – whereas many Muslim women are more comfortable telling strangers about being sexually abused than telling their own community.</p>
<p>Many of the women I interviewed live on a tightrope: calling out the patriarchy and sexual misconduct they experienced, while defending their community against anti-Muslim stereotypes. </p>
<p>The Muslim communal response to #MeToo includes organizations to combat gender-based violence. <a href="https://hearttogrow.org/">HEART</a>, a sexual health and reproductive justice organization founded in 2009, offers education and resources to discuss sexual relationships and violence. More recently, FACE, which stands for <a href="https://facetogether.org/">Facing Abuse in Community Environments</a>, has investigated sexual, physical, financial and spiritual abuses. <a href="https://inshaykhsclothing.com/">In Shaykh’s Clothing</a>, founded in 2017, works with individuals and institutions to prevent abuse, hold abusers accountable and educate Muslims about recognizing abuse and standing up to it.</p>
<p>Despite this progress, many Jewish and Muslim women are still apprehensive about reporting coreligionists, as are women in larger Christian communities. The United States has not yet normalized reporting, and neither have our faith communities. Sharing women’s stories and organizing for change – while battling antisemitism and Islamophobia – will keep the #MeToo movement moving, which I believe will create a better world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keren McGinity does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In minority faith groups that already face hate, women who have experienced harassment sometimes fear bringing negative attention to their community.Keren McGinity, Research Associate, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149892023-10-10T14:53:40Z2023-10-10T14:53:40ZCatholic synod: the voices of church leaders in Africa are not being heard – 3 reasons why<p>The Catholic church today is <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-11/pope-polarization-is-not-catholic-dialogue-is-the-only-way.html">deeply polarised</a>. This has created doctrinal fissures that are seemingly unbridgeable. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/polarization-in-the-church-how-can-it-be-overcome">many rumbling contestations</a> on questions of identity, mission, faith and morality. Other questions touch on pastoral life, the nature of marriage and family life, denial of holy communion to divorced and remarried Catholics, clerical celibacy, authority in the church and reproductive rights. </p>
<p>There is also a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-is-increasingly-diverse-and-so-are-its-controversies-189038">serious erosion of religious authority</a>. Many church leaders have lost their credibility because of what Pope Francis calls the “<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/13/pope-francis-says2ofcatholicclergyarepaedophiles.html">leprosy of clerical sexual abuse</a>” and <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-04/pope-papal-foundation-scandals-damage-church-charity-work.html">financial scandals</a>. </p>
<p>The church in Africa hasn’t been spared these issues. In parts of the continent, the <a href="https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/bishop-who-was-victim-of-tribalism-is-to-be-nigerias-next-cardinal/16161#:%7E:text=The%2059%2Dyear%2Dold%20bishop,him%20to%20assume%20his%20office.">challenges</a> of ethnocentrism, abuse of religious authority and internal division are hurting the church’s credibility and effectiveness. And some national churches seem silent on rising crises of democracy and leadership across Africa.</p>
<p>There have always been divisions in the church, but its effectiveness and credibility <a href="https://concilium-vatican2.org/en/original/ilo/">in Africa</a> have been affected by clannish divisions and internal fights over money, power and position. This raises the question: how can the church be <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Health-African-Christian-Religion/dp/1498561276">the conscience of the continent</a> if it’s ravaged by the same internal problems found in political institutions? </p>
<p>Most of the controversies that faced the church in its first 500 years were resolved through basic synodal principles – the word synod means “walking together”. These principles were developed by African scholars and church leaders like Cyprian, Athanasius, Aurelius and Augustine.</p>
<p>In 2021, Pope Francis convened a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-synod-of-bishops-a-catholic-priest-and-theologian-explains-168937">worldwide consultation on the future of the Catholic church</a>. This synod will conclude in 2024. Decisions made this year and next will define the future of modern Catholicism for many years to come. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-the-first-post-colonial-papacy-to-deliver-messages-that-resonate-with-africans-201638">Pope Francis: the first post-colonial papacy to deliver messages that resonate with Africans</a>
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<p>Sadly, in the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231004-pope-opens-church-meeting-amid-tensions-with-conservatives">process</a> so far, there seems to be no clear African agenda articulated through African Catholic church leaders. </p>
<p>I have <a href="https://www.logos.com/product/209729/faith-in-action-volume-1-reform-mission-and-pastoral-renewal-in-african-catholicism-since-vatican-ii">observed</a> the preparations of Africa for this synod. I’m afraid that the mistakes made by the continent’s church leaders in previous synods – including two held specially to address Africa’s challenges in <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_14091995_ecclesia-in-africa.html">1994</a> and <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20091023_elenco-prop-finali_en.html#top">2010</a> – are being repeated. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://addisababa.synod2023.org/#:%7E:text=AFRICA%20SYNODAL%20CONTINENTAL%20ASSEMBLY%20Final,to%206th%20of%20March">African continental meeting</a> that took place in Ethiopia in March 2023 didn’t come up with a clear agenda to address the challenges facing African Catholics.</p>
<p>African delegates are faced with three major challenges going into the current consultations. First, they are simply responding to what is tabled in the <a href="https://www.synod.va/en/highlights/working-document-for-the-continental-stage.html">working document for the synod</a> rather than setting their own agenda. Second, they are treating the continent like a homogeneous entity. Third, they’re failing to demonstrate the changes that African Catholic leaders wish to make in their leadership styles, and pastoral and social ministries in local dioceses and religious congregations, without constantly looking up to Rome for instructions and directions.</p>
<h2>Drowned voices</h2>
<p>The latest synodal process began in 2021 with grassroots consultations, and national and continental assemblies. It has now entered the most decisive moment. </p>
<p>This is why it is important that African voices are heard. As a <a href="https://works.bepress.com/stanchuilo/">theologian</a> who has studied the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/009182961204000303?journalCode=misb">development of the synodal process in Africa</a>, I worry that African Catholic voices may instead be drowned.</p>
<p>First, African delegates at the synod are not formulating their own agenda. During the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20151026_relazione-finale-xiv-assemblea_en.html">two consultations on the family in 2014 and 2015</a>, Africans framed their responses to the synod’s working document as a rejection of a western agenda for change to the traditional family. They pushed back against a perceived attempt to impose on the rest of the church a new understanding of marriage that includes the blessing of same-sex relations. </p>
<p>African delegates have failed to present their position on how to deal with issues of marriage, polygamy, denial of communion to polygamists, childlessness, burial rites and widowhood practices. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">Pope Francis' visit to Africa comes at a defining moment for the Catholic church</a>
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<p>Second, the problems that face Africa are often localised. They require contextualised solutions. Yet, African delegates often treat the continent as homogeneous, with similar social, economic and political challenges. In the 2015 synod, Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea appealed to the delegates from Africa to <a href="https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2015/09/30/news/synod-africans-are-singing-from-different-songsheets-1.35228596/">speak with one voice</a>, as if Africa had one voice. </p>
<p>There is a need to present Africa in its diversity and richness. The churches of Europe, for instance, have always presented their issues in a more localised, national and specific sense – the German Catholic Church is implementing its <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/catholic-church-germanys-controversial-synodal-path/a-64971479#:%7E:text=In%20Germany%2C%20the%20Synodal%20Path,or%20remarry%20after%20a%20divorce.">own synodal path</a>. African delegates must resist the continued colonial structure, racialised thinking and mentality that sees Africa as one country rather than a continent of diversity and dynamic pluralism. </p>
<p>Finally, African delegates must move away from constantly asking Rome and the pope to help solve the issues within the church in Africa. The delegates must focus attention on the current situation of the church and society in Africa, and how African Catholics can solve their own problems by courageously confronting the internal challenges facing the church in the continent. </p>
<p>The Catholic church is witnessing its fastest growth in Africa (<a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/2022/04/30/global-christianity/#:%7E:text=April%2030%2C%202022&text=Following%20recent%20trends%2C%20the%20Catholic,growth%20in%20Europe%20(0.3%25)">2.1%</a> between 2019 and 2020). Out of a global population of <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250362/number-of-catholics-in-asia-and-africa-continues-to-rise">1.36 billion Catholics, 236 million are African</a> (20% of the total). This growth is happening alongside a rise in poverty, social unrest, coups, wars and illiberal democracy.</p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>African delegates must demonstrate a deeper understanding of the continent’s social and religious challenges. They must capture the hopes and dreams of their congregants, and articulate how the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-popes-new-letter-isnt-just-an-exhortation-on-the-environment-for-francis-everything-is-connected-which-is-a-source-of-wonder-213135">Catholic church can support social transformation</a> through authentic and credible religious experiences and practices.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Merciful-Church-Illuminative-Ecclesiology/dp/1626982651">Pope Francis</a> has said the future of the church and the world will be determined by how those who <a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">inhabit the peripheries of life are lifted up</a>. African delegates need to speak up for the millions of Africans who are poor and marginalised. </p>
<p>The Catholic church in Africa must become a champion for human rights, good governance and women’s empowerment. It needs to model the image of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worldwide-consultations-for-the-global-synod-reflect-pope-francis-efforts-toward-building-a-more-inclusive-catholic-church-213129">inclusive church</a> in its structures and priorities. It needs to nurture a new generation of Africans who understand the diverse challenges facing the continent and seek African solutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stan Chu Ilo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Divisions and tensions in the global church are affecting the church in Africa.Stan Chu Ilo, Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2146352023-10-04T20:30:38Z2023-10-04T20:30:38ZAre We Dating The Same Guy? Online groups toe the line between protecting women and defaming men<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551207/original/file-20230929-19-y6jzfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C90%2C6609%2C4376&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social media sites have given many the potential to reach millions of people instantly. With that reach, the risks and impacts of defamation can be far greater.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-online-groups-toe-the-line-between-protecting-women-and-defaming-men" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Infidelity and deception have always been part of dating and relationships. Traditionally managed privately between the parties or through legal processes, these issues have recently been co-opted by online vigilante communities that <a href="https://medium.com/sexography/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-has-become-a-hate-group-to-slander-innocent-men-a5f3a575585c">shame daters</a> — men in particular — who behave badly. </p>
<p>But are these online communities about more than shaming? Do they also safeguard women from getting exploited or hurt? </p>
<p>These questions are being debated in London, Ont., where a man featured on the Facebook group “Are We Dating the Same Guy? London, Ontario” <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook-group-london-ontario-1.6937007">launched a defamation lawsuit</a> against one of its administrators alleging he was called names, accused of sending lewd photos and labelled a bad parent.</p>
<p>As scholars who specialize in dating culture and defamation, this case is intriguing to us for the legal precedent it may set. It could also have far-reaching implications for people in the online dating world and anyone using social networking platforms.</p>
<p>Social media sites enable users to potentially reach millions of people instantly. With that reach, the risks and impacts of defamation can be far greater.</p>
<p>As university educators working in environments where online dating is widespread and incidents of gender-based and sexual violence <a href="https://ontariosuniversities.ca/student-voices-on-sexual-violence-survey">occur often</a>, we’re also interested in what this case could mean for university students.</p>
<h2>Are We Dating The Same Guy?</h2>
<p>The first group was launched on Facebook in New York in 2022 by women who wanted to protect one another from men who cheat, are violent or exploit them financially. </p>
<p>Since then, groups have sprouted up in hundreds of cities across <a href="https://mashable.com/article/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook">North America</a>, <a href="https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/veille-sanitaire/veille-sanitaire-du-vendredi-02-juin-2023-4425553">Europe</a>, the <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-inside-the-facebook-group-where-women-vet-men-they-re-talking-to-dating-apps-b1058726.html">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/dating/inside-wild-dating-groups-exposing-australian-men/news-story/616da5fa9c3335d4af90cff25811b531">Australia</a>. Men in Toronto have retaliated by also creating their own Facebook page: <a href="https://streetsoftoronto.com/are-we-dating-the-same-girl-facebook-group-toronto/">Are We Dating the Same Girl?</a></p>
<p>Members of the women’s groups post information about “red flag” men using screenshots of dating app profiles, text exchanges and sometimes memes. <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy375q/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-facebook-groups">Many posts</a> are anonymous, contain trigger warnings and are difficult to read because they detail awful instances of coercion, assault, racism, extortion and abuse.</p>
<p>However, the degree to which these groups actually protect women is up for debate and so is the purpose they serve. In some instances, these groups may be used to make <a href="https://www.bendsource.com/news/are-we-dating-the-same-guy-yes-19906004">false claims</a> about men. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A smartphone display with different dating app icons" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551210/original/file-20230929-29-bmdb1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Online dating has proliferated in recent years and groups have popped up to highlight daters who behave badly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Online dating groups</h2>
<p>Online posts stating that someone has behaved poorly in the dating context could be considered defamatory. Men whose reputations suffer from the information featured in the groups <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/07/22/metoo-defamation-lawsuits-slapp/">could sue</a> the people posting and the group administrators for defamation, especially if they are of high social or professional standing and have a lot to lose.</p>
<p>Post-writers might <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.34.1.03">defend themselves</a> against accusations of defamation through the defence of “truth.” The rationale for this defence is that a person cannot sue for reputational harm if the statement made about them is in fact true. </p>
<p>However, this defence would require posters to prove their allegations are true. We know from <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.22.2.397">decades of experience</a> that this can be especially difficult in stereotypical “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1350/ijep.2009.13.4.329">he said/she said</a>” situations. </p>
<p>Post-writers might also raise a “qualified privilege” defence. This protects someone against civil liability for defamatory statements made to <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2013/2013onsc4796/2013onsc4796.html?autocompleteStr=vanderkooy&autocompletePos=1">protect the interests</a> of another party, a common interest or the public interest. </p>
<p>Although these groups were established to protect women from toxic or dangerous men, it’s unclear whether group members have a legal or moral duty to share and receive this information, which is the hallmark of qualified privilege.</p>
<p>If any information is shared with malice or includes statements that exceed what is necessary to protect someone’s interests, the post-writers cannot rely on this defence. This means that vitriolic statements or gratuitous complaints about someone’s dating behaviour aren’t protected by qualified privilege. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A women on a laptop with a pensive look on her face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551208/original/file-20230929-17-kdrt13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Posters can defend themselves by saying their comments are truthful. But that can often be hard to prove in court.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Gender-based violence on campus</h2>
<p>Online dating, social media posting and defamation have unique implications for university campuses where additional dynamics are at play. </p>
<p>Students who experience distressing dating experiences, including gender-based and sexual violence, may post the names and photos of the perpetrators online to call out violence and protect fellow students. However, in doing so they could be vulnerable to defamation suits if they cannot legally prove that the statements are true. </p>
<p>Individuals labelled offenders could <a href="https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/cc69509d-8744-4ad6-a7aa-493332530f4b/content">bring defamation claims</a> or complaints against their accusers under student codes of conduct. </p>
<p>This happened at Yale University when a former <a href="https://apnews.com/article/yale-rape-acquittal-colleges-sexual-assault-1d74bbe89517db23c49a4a098186bd89">student was sued for defamation</a> after she reported that a fellow student had raped her. In 2018, a fired Yukon College instructor also <a href="https://www.yukon-news.com/news/fired-yukon-college-instructor-sues-student-over-sex-assault-allegations/">sued a student</a> who accused him of sexual assault and posted about it online.</p>
<p>Such cases could escalate campus tensions regarding safety issues and make it harder for people to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-07-2022-0228">come forward about sexual assault</a>, which are already infrequent due to fears of being disbelieved, shamed by peers or reliving the traumas related to the events. </p>
<h2>More safeguards needed</h2>
<p>The romantic escapades of celebrities once dominated news headlines, but in our digital society, anyone’s dating life can be thrust into the spotlight. Are We Dating the Same Guy? groups highlight the thorny social and legal implications of posting what could be considered defamatory content. </p>
<p>The proliferation of these groups across the globe means we must reflect on the complicated world of online dating, where there is little protection for daters and few ramifications for people who behave badly. </p>
<p>The potential for students to be pulled into similarly complex legal battles is equally important to consider. To safeguard students, universities should ensure they are able to come forward about abuse, whether to file formal complaints or to obtain other supports. </p>
<p>Universities should also consider distributing information about online dating and social media issues so students better understand their rights and risks when it comes to gender-based and sexual violence, dating and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2023.100975">campus safety</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214635/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media groups have emerged designed to protect women from bad dating experiences. Those who use them could be liable to being sued for defamation.Treena Orchard, Associate Professor, School of Health Studies, Western UniversityErika Chamberlain, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Law, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140992023-09-27T16:30:53Z2023-09-27T16:30:53ZChanging the age of consent is not the solution to protecting young people from unhealthy relationships with adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550056/original/file-20230925-29-mfdtt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6240%2C4154&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/teenage-girl-around-whom-there-darkness-2165240799">Pandagolik1/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of abuse, including sexual assault and rape, by four women. <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russell-brand-rape-sexual-assault-abuse-allegations-investigation-v5hxdlmb6">The allegations</a> – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psFiwFI_VQo&ab_channel=Reuters">which Brand denies</a> – include the sexual assault of a woman who says she was in a relationship with Brand when she was 16 and he was in his 30s. </p>
<p>The alleged victim, known as Alice, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/sep/20/calls-grow-to-reassess-age-of-consent-laws-after-russell-brand-allegations">has suggested</a> that a discussion should take place around changing the age of consent to protect young people from older adults. One option, which she raises, is that a staggered approach would allow sexual relationships between people aged 16-18 but would prohibit older adults from having sex with young people in this age group. </p>
<p>This, on face value, appears to be an approach that might work – and it’s incredibly important that we have these conversations about how to protect young people. But unfortunately, changing the age of consent alone may be too simplistic a solution for a complex problem.</p>
<h2>What the law says</h2>
<p>The current <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/contents">age of consent</a> dates back to 1885, when it was <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/overview/sexualbehaviour19thcentury/#:%7E:text=A%20press%20campaign%20on%20the,of%20young%20women%20from%20vice">raised to 16 from 13</a> after a campaign by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (now the NSPCC). The law states that anyone who is 16 or over can take part in legal sexual activity – mutual masturbation, oral sex and penetrative sex. The legal age of consent for sex between men was lowered from 18 to 16 in 2000 via the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/44/notes#:%7E:text=This%20reduction%20is%20from%2018,and%2017%20in%20Northern%20Ireland.">Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act</a>.</p>
<p>However, there are <a href="https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-protection-system/children-the-law#:%7E:text=Additional%20protection%20up%20to%20the,in%20line%20with%20safeguarding%20procedures.">other legal protections</a> in place for young people aged under 18. Additional legislation states that it is illegal to photograph or video under 18s taking part in sexual activity, pay for sex from them, or take part in sexual activity with them if in a position of trust or a member of their family. </p>
<p>Cases of <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/rape-and-sexual-offences-chapter-6-consent">child sexual exploitation</a> also consider a child to be someone aged under 18. In some cases, a young person over the age of 16 may be considered to <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/rape-and-sexual-offences-chapter-6-consent">not have been able</a> to give consent. </p>
<p>But despite the presence of these protective elements in law for those under the age of 18, sexual abuse of young people is still widespread. What’s more, in cases of sexual exploitation, often complex and well-planned grooming has taken place beforehand, making it hard for the young person to realise that they are being exploited. A change in the age of consent would not stop this kind of grooming happening to young people under 18. It simply won’t work.</p>
<h2>Understanding healthy behaviour</h2>
<p>Raising the age of consent also runs the risk of asserting more control over the bodies of young people and removing their agency. If, as has been suggested, sexual relationships between people aged 16-18 is permissible, but is not allowed between this age group and older adults, young people having sex may run into issues when the older teen in a relationship turns 19. This approach risks criminalising healthy sexual behaviour. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl talking to her mother" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550237/original/file-20230926-23-vnghh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people should be able to talk about sex and relationships without fear of shame.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-mother-her-cute-teenage-daughter-639567613">Olimpik/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are a number of steps that certainly should be taken to help young people. One is good <a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-education-review-controversial-proposals-risk-failing-young-people-202182">relationships and sex education</a> that equips young people with the knowledge to better recognise an abusive or potentially abusive scenario – when they are being taken advantage of or are being put in an unsafe situation. </p>
<p>This education should include <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/publications/a-students-guide-to-what-you-dont-know.pdf">input from young people</a>: we need to listen to them and the solutions that they suggest as they are the experts on what they need.</p>
<p>Another is to create environments – at schools, at home, at youth clubs and other places – where young people can talk about relationships and sex without shame. Speaking out about abuse is notoriously difficult for young people because they worry they will be judged or that speaking to someone will lead to negative consequences. Safe spaces for these conversations need to be created. </p>
<p>The allegations against Brand have brought societal issues to the forefront that have been in the background for many years. This, in itself, is not a bad thing. We need to consider why toxic behaviour and imbalanced relationships go ignored and unnoticed in society. It is useful to remember that candid and open conversations about how to protect young people from abuses, grooming and exploitation can only be a good thing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie King-Hill receives funding from ESRC. </span></em></p>A staggered age of consent has been suggested, which would make it illegal for adults to have sex with under-18s.Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor at the Health Services Management Centre, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138062023-09-20T15:07:52Z2023-09-20T15:07:52ZRussell Brand: why it is so difficult for people to come forward with sexual assault allegations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549313/original/file-20230920-19-lezh8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C110%2C6609%2C4335&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-side-view-african-young-lonely-1733456645">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When writer E. Jean Carroll was asked why she finally went <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/president-donald-trump-faces-new-rape-accusation.html">public</a> – after more than 25 years – to accuse then US president Donald Trump of sexual assault, her response was something that countless others have thought: “Think of how many women have come forward and nothing happens.”</p>
<p>The thousands of comments on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHucIRl3hkc&t=38s">YouTube clip</a> of that interview show the typical backlash faced by people who come forward with such accusations. They are cruel and misogynistic, unsubstantiated accusations that the person is crazy, attention-seeking, a money grabber, a liar and not a “real” victim. </p>
<p>Commenters claim to know how a “real” victim reacts – they scream, tell someone right away or go to the police. They do not keep quiet for years.</p>
<p>Unlike Carroll, most victims will not have the resources to pursue their abusers in court. Rarer still is that perpetrators are found liable, as Trump was for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db">sexual abuse and defamation</a>. </p>
<p>But what all women who accuse high-profile men of sexual abuse have in common, is their experience with the vitriol, myths and misconceptions that stop so many others from speaking out. This is already being seen in the public <a href="https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion/comment/4735093/kirsty-strickland-comment-opinion-russell-brand/">reaction</a> to the allegations against comedian Russell Brand, though it must be remembered that the allegations have not yet been tested in any court.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system">the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network</a> in the US, only about 30% of sexual assaults are reported to police. Of those, fewer than 3% of cases lead to a conviction. Similar statistics are found in the <a href="https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/">UK</a>.</p>
<p>There is little chance for due process, but a huge risk of reliving deeply traumatising experiences while being doubted, undermined, and in high profile cases, publicly shamed. </p>
<p>Most perpetrators also have a <a href="https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence">relationship</a> with their victims. This is usually an unbalanced power dynamic, such as a work supervisor or romantic partner. In these cases, the consequences of reporting can also threaten someone’s career, family and personal life. </p>
<h2>Myths about assault survivors</h2>
<p>There are a number of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260509354503">false beliefs</a> used against victims (also called survivors) at every turn. <a href="https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/about-sexual-violence/myths-vs-realities/">The most common myths</a> include that the victim is lying or secretly “wanted it”, the perpetrator didn’t mean to, it wasn’t that bad, a “legitimate” victim would’ve fought back and the victim is seeking attention. </p>
<p>These myths perpetuate gendered stereotypes – that women who experience violence are helpless or promiscuous – and often ignore the experiences of male and LGBTQ+ victims. </p>
<p>Such ideas are not just the purview of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sgp2.12011?casa_token=ZXn_6WTFfBoAAAAA:YmS1X61QR9K_k_uS7hENnPGc5ypBtZukRBJGjmDZUc76wJ_0VodL-bojRwddYb8iGyEyRHF4VIchYwx9">online mobs</a>, they are enmeshed in the structures that are meant to protect victims. They are repeated in <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fvio0000072">police reports</a>, are a defence tactic in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0964663916680130?casa_token=rQhhd4g6UcQAAAAA:xQcK84_ALxS2oLozl9rKRow40fHwvXGCXUV5B64tOhg44UiWMiR1Lac0nwa5Cikok5Sl6EaN15SX4g">court</a> and used in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10510974.2021.1953091">workplaces</a> to protect perpetrators. </p>
<p>They are used in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10778012211021129?casa_token=8-mjvUoHP8cAAAAA%3A61zaT7P1SiOPCwhlpqZCK3P8lvQeRabjurwIxQWml-wt1w4IFpuCSF984xPLQ9xck_0fS-OIvu8Xjg">news coverage</a> of high-profile cases. But even when a case is not making international news, they are repeated in families, in social circles, at work and in religious settings. </p>
<p>It is no wonder then, that most people who experience sexual violence <a href="https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system">never report</a> to police or go public. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0886260516658756?casa_token=fSmHjNZ33K4AAAAA%3A_DjTmJcGYyIWTy9nLpM84PyNEjlT_2ByyOC-9poKhjfsQeUtaLqnd6nhT4fSVFfwzW-3OwZQSJ-kbQ">They doubt themselves</a>, feel shame and lack trust in institutions to help. </p>
<p>The low conviction rate and problematic cultural attitudes – as displayed in reactions to high-profile accusations – <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.125232218452814">reaffirm</a> their fears and keeps reporting low.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-scorecards-show-under-1-of-reported-rapes-lead-to-conviction-criminologist-explains-why-englands-justice-system-continues-to-fail-180345">New scorecards show under 1% of reported rapes lead to conviction – criminologist explains why England's justice system continues to fail</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does it take to come forward?</h2>
<p>Research shows people are more likely <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0886260517717490?casa_token=tXPq3mHQZZYAAAAA%3AY3YQRYF45wXk_RbHw43NFmeUH6UkApzSOgscqphG23N7ODkFA0FLBwbTqodE8fbIKlTul2YwgG33eg">to come forward</a> when they trust institutions like their university or workplace. </p>
<p>Other factors that can encourage reporting include receiving institutional training on how to report and access to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1077801219857831?casa_token=RuDSZxJFeXgAAAAA%3Ap9DIicaBYCQJ75LDz52RhAZ5sgqNL2D18M8pQeCZB2zEhsT73B9Fz2J7L6tsO4Ulgt-8B3jrRyvt2w">victim advocates</a>, who are starting to be hired by some law enforcement. </p>
<p>Social media, despite being a hub of toxicity, can also be a place to encourage people <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kelly-oxford-starts-social-media-movement-of-women-sharing-sexual-assault-stories/">to speak out</a>. Once one person comes forward, others will follow. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Participants in a MeToo march hold signs in front of the domed San Francisco city hall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549316/original/file-20230920-25-m05f5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even in the post-MeToo era, myths about sexual assault persist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/january-20-2018-san-francisco-ca-1005750553">Sundry Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It can take years for allegations against a powerful person to come to light. Timing can also determine public reactions. When not at their peak power, the accused are often more likely to face consequences. Trump losing the civil suit after he was president seemed to produce less backlash than when Carroll first came forward. </p>
<p>But when a US Supreme Court seat was in the balance, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/13/christine-blasey-ford-memoir-brett-kavanaugh-testimony">Christine Blasey Ford</a> received death threats and had to move to protect herself and her family after accusing Brett Kavanaugh of a historic sexual assault. </p>
<p>Blasey Ford <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/09/26/651941113/read-christine-blasey-fords-opening-statement-for-senate-hearing">described</a> how the support of family, friends, the journalists she trusted and many in the public gave her the strength when she came forward. Yet, they couldn’t protect her from the retaliation that totally disrupted her life. </p>
<h2>A changing culture</h2>
<p>A common excuse for not believing sexual violence allegations is that there’s not enough proof – it’s her words against his. But for those who perpetuate rape myths, gathering evidence doesn’t seem to matter. </p>
<p>After every serious journalism report, like The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4 <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russell-brand-rape-sexual-assault-abuse-allegations-investigation-v5hxdlmb6">investigation</a> into Russell Brand, is an avalanche of <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/09/18/russell-brand-allegations-andrew-tate-beverley-turner-elon-musk-19517073/">celebrities</a> and fans defending the accused and denigrating the accuser. </p>
<p>This is meant to be the post-#MeToo era, where it’s possible for people to speak out and be listened to, and to have their allegations taken seriously and investigated by the authorities. Serial abusers like former Hollywood producer <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories">Harvey Weinstein</a>, former doctor to the US women’s national gymnastics team <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/larry-nassar-now-abuse-timeline-b1920783.html">Larry Nassar</a> and singer <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61989606">R. Kelly</a> are serving decades-long prison sentences. </p>
<p>These cases may bring some sense of justice for the victims who faced public exposure, personal anxiety and the re-traumatisation that comes with telling and retelling their experiences.</p>
<p>Despite this, the persistence of rape myths is still making it difficult for people to come forward. It may take many more years of historic allegations coming to light before we see the much needed cultural change and reform to the systems that still fail victims.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213806/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsey Blumell has received funding from City, University of London to conduct her research. </span></em></p>Myths about rape and assault persist even in the post-MeToo era.Lindsey Blumell, Lecturer in Journalism, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2107022023-08-15T01:48:07Z2023-08-15T01:48:07ZAmid dreadful sexual abuse, sport brings grace in a school memoir that resists easy judgement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540385/original/file-20230801-15-ewgsbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C3817%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A friend likes to remind me about the one time I attended an Ashes test in Melbourne, Boxing Day, 1974. The crowd was waiting, excited, to watch the English team, and Dennis Amiss particularly, front up to the wicket. On he came, bravely facing just eight balls. Then he was caught out, having scored a paltry four runs. I cried. How humiliating and soul-shrivelling for him, I thought. But my Australian (male) friends couldn’t understand at all. Crying? For an Englishman!</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: The Empty Honour Board: a school memoir – Martin Flanagan (Viking)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Then there were all those years growing up with a father who insisted on watching <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine%27s_Wide_World_of_Sports">Wide World of Sports</a> every Sunday at lunchtime. The kitchen table would be carried in to the TV and we were made to sit in religious silence, eating our roast, watching grown men hand-balling through a hole in the wall, and rehashing the events/scores/heroes of the previous day’s matches. </p>
<p>These anecdotes are not random. They were part of my personal mythology, my long dislike of the Australian religion of sport. Back then I saw it all as being at the expense of, say, literature, or intellectual debate, or spiritual depth. </p>
<p>I am deciding in later life that pitting sport against culture, or intellect, or spirituality is not a very productive idea. That kind of oppositional mentality chisels down your options and your enjoyments. I have writer Martin Flanagan to thank for shaking my narrowness. He hasn’t completely set me free (I’m sure that wasn’t his aim); but life, and sons, and what Flanagan in his memoir <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-empty-honour-board-9780143779131">The Empty Honour Board</a> describes as “the athletic grace” of sport and sportspeople, have contributed to my education.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1034&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1034&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540382/original/file-20230801-29-a5tyah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1034&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Martin Flanagan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Random House Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This book, described by Flanagan as “a school memoir” is that, and much more – spanning the 1960s of Flanagan’s childhood to the present. </p>
<p>The famous Flanagan sports-writing flair is given plenty of scope; but at this book’s centre are stories from a boy’s world: the Tasmanian Catholic boarding school he attended as a child in the 1960s and ‘70s, the priests who taught there, and the camaraderie of boys who felt themselves constantly under threat from male violence (regular canings, bashings, enforced piety, touchings, and full-on abuse).</p>
<p>From 1966 to 1971, from the ages of 10 to 16, Flanagan went to this school, not named in the book for privacy reasons. Many boys – Flanagan to a minor extent – were sexually abused to differing degrees. Others were bullied and traumatised at this school, which has since been disbanded. </p>
<p>As the violent, dreadful stories of sexual abuse are slowly told in the book, often in ragged, little images that say it all, we are also given many sports stories, and wider Flanagan life experiences. They made this reader listen, these stories of on-field valour and sporting prowess of the past. Playing football and cricket was the escape and joy of many boys, as sport became a free space:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In this grey world, I discovered sport… Sport, unlike school and religion, had <em>life!</em> I discovered sport like others I have read discover theatre - as a magical space where aspects of humanity otherwise kept hidden away come out to play. For the first time I saw grace … athletic grace that took my breath away, acts of skill and daring that imprinted themselves indelibly on my brain. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Empty Honour Board is also a book about the way memory and the past and one’s boyhood passions and nightmares can collide, often unexpectedly, later in life, resulting in new readings of the self. We see that for Flanagan “the self” is a hard-won, self-questioning and restless entity. One memory, retrieved in later life by the author, is startling in its openness about the struggle for self:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the end, one hot day I was standing beside a Blackwood tree in the paddock beside our little home, when a shadow hurried across the grass towards me. With it came a great fear that I was about to be extinguished or swallowed up, and I cried out: ‘I have a right to be!’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This memory is told in a straightforward, non-self-dramatising way, not blaming any one person for “the negative imprint of those early years”, but registering the life-long impact nevertheless. It is the act of writing, we are told, which gave (and gives) Flanagan his “sanity”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540386/original/file-20230801-19-q5gdci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flanagan writes of the breathtaking athletic grace of sport,</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Morgan Hancock/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-believe-or-not-to-believe-child-witnesses-and-the-sex-abuse-royal-commission-55561">To believe or not to believe: child witnesses and the sex abuse royal commission</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Pity for the loneliness of priests</h2>
<p>Flanagan the writer emerges with many selves: poet, passionately non-Catholic thinker (despite his mother’s desires), journalist of eclectic scope, traveller, and most interestingly, perhaps, someone who refuses to be judgemental even in the face of awful and dire life situations.</p>
<p>Yet we are given plenty to judge: a full blast of life as a child from a Catholic family landed in a boarding school from the age of 11, where multiple forms of violence are always hovering, and where religious faith is not experienced as real for the boy. </p>
<p>However, this doesn’t turn into a story of victimhood. The boy (and the man) does not resent his parents for sending him away, but remembers feeling ready to face the freedom of being out of home. He doesn’t even despise the priests who inflict such violence on the boys in their “care”. There is more a sense of pity for the loneliness of such priests.</p>
<p>In the words of “celebrity barrister” Geoffrey Robertson, at the time of the 2019 trials of several of the priests, (quoted by Flanagan), most accused priests</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] are not even paedophiles, but rather sexually maladjusted, immature and lonely individuals unable to resist the temptation to exploit their power over children who are taught to revere them as agents of God. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540384/original/file-20230801-15-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is more pity than judgement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is more human pity than judgement informing this stance. For Flanagan, judgementalism is usually produced by simplistic thinking, in the “current realm”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] now termed binary thinking where issues about deeply sensitive subjects like race and sexuality and gender are reduced almost immediately to black-and-white terms […] So much contemporary media – particularly social media – reduces human dramas to scenarios in which the forces of darkness are pitted against the forces of light. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Flanagan’s expressed wish in this book is to be “uplifting”. He sees himself as an optimist, and asks humbly, from the wells of his human experience: “Whose light didn’t come with a shadow?” </p>
<p>As the book proceeds to unpack the offences and trials of the different priests from his school, placing his narrative in the larger context of sexual abuse allegations surrounding <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/30/george-pell-returns-to-rome-after-acquittal-on-child-abuse-charges">Archbishop George Pell</a> and others, Flanagan maintains both his pity, but also his sense of justice.</p>
<p>He continued to like some of the priests who later turned out to be abusers, but still delivered “my testimony hard and exact”, 30 years later when he agreed to testify in court about abuse in the school. </p>
<p>As Flanagan narrates, in straightforward, factual prose at the beginning of the book: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Three of the 12 priests on the staff when I arrived have since gone to prison for sexual crimes committed while I was there, and allegations have been publicly directed against others. Further sexual abuse cases occurred at the school after I left, so that as it now stands six former staff members have been sent to jail. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Spiritual depth</h2>
<p>The last section of the book is poised between pity and optimism, with a straightforward, straight-talking sense of realism peeling back to reveal the brutishness of which humans are capable. Placing his work in the context of literature and the genre of boyhood education – Lord of the Flies, Tom Brown’s School Days, Huckleberry Finn – is helpful for readers thinking about what kind of text this is.</p>
<p>There are many heroes named along the way. Flanagan never exaggerates his own personal story of abuse, but bullying and cowardice and outright violence were the air all the boys breathed at the school. Yet there is also hope, with moving tributes made to heroes. These tributes buoy up Flanagan’s memoir with grace and strength, embodying what is possible beyond the shabbiness of predatory human actions. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540383/original/file-20230801-17-ea2imr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many figures stand out as cherished influences in Flanagan’s story, some of them beacons of hope: Indigenous leader <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Dodson">Patrick Dodson</a>, Martin’s wife Polly, his brothers, especially Tim, his parents, writers such as Howard Goldenberg, George Orwell and William Golding, musician Archie Roach, and a long, long roll call of sportsmen, and fellow students who bravely rode the waves of the dark world that was school life: Paul and Steve O’Halloran, Rinso, Peter Rowe, and others.</p>
<p>Finally, there is one subtext of this memoir which needs highlighting: Flanagan’s broken, often angry, but ongoing relationship with spirituality. When it boils down to the institution of the Catholic church – its priesthood, schools, rituals and disciplines – there is little warmth. And who can blame him? </p>
<p>But in his honouring of people’s warmth, his tributes to the church’s joyful priests, its service to the marginal, its rituals of memory, Flanagan is still alive to the need for spiritual depth. </p>
<p>He finds this depth in Aboriginal spirituality and the example of Pat Dodson. And as he tells us, when meeting the late <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu">South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu</a> and hearing his “raucous cackle”, he asked him “Does God laugh?” Flanagan reports Tutu’s response:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He took my forearm solemnly in his hands and said slowly and with emphasis: ‘Yes, my friend. God laughs – and God cries,’ and I saw within him, as deep as a mine-shaft, where despair has taken him … In South Africa I got seriously scared by the evil of torture and in South Africa I saw that hope, like love, can be made. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This nonjudgmental equanimity crowns Flanagan’s memoir. He tells a bleak set of stories, but the volume is indeed uplifting in the face of so much darkness. I’m even tempted to seek out some more of his sports writing.</p>
<p><em>Correction: an earlier version of this article mis-spelt the name of the barrister Geoffrey Robertson. It has now been corrected.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyn McCredden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Martin Flanagan’s school memoir describes bullying, male violence and abusive priests. But rather than a story of victimhood, it explores the grace and release of sport, finding hope amid darkness.Lyn McCredden, Personal Chair, Literary Studies, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2092082023-08-07T12:06:45Z2023-08-07T12:06:45ZYoung people need more support coping with online sexual harms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540255/original/file-20230731-157556-npzrog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5309%2C2985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Motivating young people to think critically about online risks helps them understand how stereotypes, inequalities and sexist double standards impact people online.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/young-people-need-more-support-coping-with-online-sexual-harms" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Digital technologies and the internet have become a part of daily life for many young people in Canada and worldwide. While that increased connectivity brings many benefits, it can also open youth up to online harm and abuse. It is important that meaningful supports are in place to protect young people from sexual harm. </p>
<p>In 2020, humanitarian organization Plan International <a href="https://www.planinternational.nl/uploaded/2020/09/SOTWGR2020-CommsReport-EN.pdf?x10967">surveyed just over 14,000 young girls and women</a> aged 15-25 in 22 countries, including Canada. Fifty-eight per cent of participants reported having personally experienced some form of online harassment, including sexual harassment. </p>
<p>People who have experienced these problems report <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/publications/supporting-safer-digital-spaces/">significant adverse effects</a> on their well-being, including <a href="https://webfoundation.org/2020/11/the-impact-of-online-gender-based-violence-on-women-in-public-life/">lower self-esteem, increased anxiety, stress</a> and even <a href="http://www.bwss.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/CyberVAWReportJessicaWest.pdf">attempts at self-harm</a>.</p>
<p>Further, research has shown that rates of sexual harm have increased among people with one or multiple marginalized identities like race, <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/static/documents/SaferInternet_Special_Report.pdf">sexual orientation</a> or a disability. </p>
<p>Young people who <a href="https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/2023-07/report_ycwwiv_trends_recommendations.pdf">experience this kind of discrimination</a> can face a higher risk of significant mental health problems.</p>
<p>Despite the severity of these harms, much of Canadian education, social supports and laws do not provide young people with the tools and protection they want and need. </p>
<p>Parents, teachers, technology companies, civil society organizations and governments are grappling with how to support young people in these cases. So, where are we going wrong?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young woman looks at a phone with an upset look." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540262/original/file-20230731-104526-v5p4rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Online harassment and abuse can negatively impact a young person’s mental health and self-esteem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>We need to use the right words</h2>
<p><a href="https://1332d589-88d9-46fd-b342-d3eba2ef6889.usrfiles.com/ugd/1332d5_0b255967851a48c580f8a3c23e786399.pdf">Our research shows</a> that terms like “cyberbullying” no longer capture the scope of harms young people experience in digital spaces. Using this term can downplay the seriousness of the issue because it evokes an idea of schoolyard teasing rather than some of the more serious forms of sexual harms that youth can experience.</p>
<p>These digital harms can include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83734-1_31">receiving unsolicited explicit images</a>, sexual harassment, exploitative sexual extortion and non-consensual distribution of intimate images. Many of these behaviours fall outside of what the average person would imagine when they think of cyberbullying and require new terminology that accurately describes what youth are experiencing.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/be-careful-with-photos-talk-about-sex-how-to-protect-your-kids-from-online-sexual-abuse-139971">Be careful with photos, talk about sex: how to protect your kids from online sexual abuse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As a group of leading scholars studying the unique challenges of navigating relationships and sexual experiences online, we have adopted the term “technology-facilitated sexual violence” to describe the sexual harms young people experience in digital spaces.</p>
<p>Our website offers a <a href="https://www.diydigitalsafety.ca/resources">hub of resources</a> to help support young people and address technology-facilitated sexual violence.</p>
<p>Through our five-year research project, <a href="https://www.diydigitalsafety.ca/">Digitally Informed Youth (DIY) Digital Safety</a>, we will engage with young people and the adults who support them. This is the first research project in Canada to specifically examine technology-facilitated sexual violence among young people aged 13-18 years old. We aim to understand their challenges, how they cope and their ideas for solutions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.diydigitalsafety.ca/publications">Our research</a> has emphasized that tackling this problem requires acknowledging young people’s integrated digital and physical lives and recognizing that technology as a tool can both facilitate harm and can be harnessed to combat such harm. </p>
<h2>Lack of Canadian research</h2>
<p>Educators and policymakers must understand the problem within the unique context of Canadian society. Although there is a growing amount of Canadian research on technology-facilitated sexual violence, most research on this topic has been conducted in countries like the United States or Australia.</p>
<p>Specifically, there is little research on what young people in Canada are experiencing online, what terminology we should use to identify these harms and what supports young people find effective. Additionally, some young people in Canada face challenges because they live in remote communities or have less access to supportive resources.</p>
<p>It is essential to have contextual evidence-based research so that educators can talk to young people about their rights, understand what behaviour is harmful and know how young people should respond to abusive sexual behaviours online. Youth voices and perspectives must be included in this analysis.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="One person placing their hands around another's." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540270/original/file-20230731-227785-volgbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supporting young people means creating solutions based on trust and open dialogue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Consistent and accessible support</h2>
<p>As technology has evolved, the Canadian legal system has introduced laws to address sexual harms against young people and adults, such as criminal laws against <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-163.1.html">child pornography</a>, <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2007_20/FullText.html">child luring</a>, <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-162.HTML">voyeurism</a> and <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/cndii-cdncii/p6.html">non-consensual distribution of intimate images</a>.</p>
<p>However, young people still receive <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663917724866">confusing messages</a> about how these laws apply to them and which sexual behaviours are harmful. For example, many young people receive inaccurate <a href="https://needhelpnow.ca/app/en/resources_involving_safe_adult">victim-blaming messaging</a> about images they may take of their bodies.</p>
<p>Legal interventions may be an appropriate response in some of the most serious cases of technology-facilitated sexual violence, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17416590221142762">young people need more than legal measures</a>. In reality, many are looking for various forms of support from schools, friends, <a href="https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/2023-07/report_ycwwiv_trends_recommendations.pdf">family</a>, non-profit organizations and victim-service organizations.</p>
<p>Currently, school curricula and policies across Canada address technology-facilitated sexual violence in various ways, and the approaches vary significantly among provinces and territories. In some regions, there is minimal or even no language related specifically to technology-facilitated sexual violence in the curricula and policies. </p>
<p>With technology being a consistent part of young people’s lives, it is key that school policies and curricula are updated to address the realities of young people’s increasingly digitized relationships.</p>
<p>To update school policies and curricula effectively, some researchers suggest promoting the concept of being good <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2204223">“sexual citizens”</a> among young people. This means encouraging them to navigate their lives and relationships with a solid ethical and interpersonal foundation. This model shifts away from victim-blaming and abstinence-only messaging. Instead, it focuses on fostering healthy relationships and communication.</p>
<p>Motivating young people to think critically about online risks is an empowering approach. It helps them acknowledge the influence that stereotypes, inequalities and sexist double standards have in these discussions and how they impact individuals’ access to power and resources.</p>
<p>Relying on legal scare tactics or surveillance methods by caregivers and tech companies <a href="https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/2023-07/report_ycwwiv_trends_recommendations.pdf">undermines trust between young people and the adults in their lives</a>. It also raises concerns among youth about how platforms are using the data collected from them. </p>
<p>Instead, we need solutions based on trust and open dialogue, and for parents, educators, technology companies and policymakers to engage with young people as the first step to creating a culture shift.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexa Dodge's research receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Dietzel receives funding from iMPACTS: Collaborations to Address Sexual Violence on Campus; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant 895–2016-1026 (Project Director, Shaheen Shariff, Ph.D., James McGill Professor, McGill University).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaitlynn Mendes receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canada Research Chairs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzie Dunn's research receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Estefania Reyes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New approaches are needed to address the scope of abuse young people can experience when online.Estefania Reyes, PhD student, Sociology, Western UniversityAlexa Dodge, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Saint Mary’s UniversityChristopher Dietzel, Postdoctoral fellow, the Sexual Health and Gender Lab, Dalhousie UniversityKaitlynn Mendes, Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender, Western UniversitySuzie Dunn, Assistant Professor, Law, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2079132023-08-03T20:03:12Z2023-08-03T20:03:12Z20% of young people who forwarded nudes say they had permission – but only 8% gave it. Why the gap?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540928/original/file-20230803-17498-pbujpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C17%2C5937%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sending and receiving of intimate images and videos is increasingly becoming a part of people’s sexual relationships – particularly for teenagers and young adults. </p>
<p>Image-based “sexting” has steadily increased over the past few years. <a href="https://bedbible.com/sexting-facts-statistics/">Aggregated data</a> from population-representative studies in the United States, which included 110,380 teenage participants, found about one in five teenagers had either sent or received nudes online. Australian studies report <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/%20ijerph18052429">similar rates</a>.</p>
<p>The figures are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106630">slightly higher</a> among lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals. However, minimal data have been collected from the broader queer community, including from trans and gender-diverse people.</p>
<p>Research <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33807667/">shows</a> there is little harm associated with sexting when all parties involved have consented, including for teenagers. That said, consent isn’t always properly given and received. In such cases there are increased risks of abuse and sexual violence. </p>
<p>Harm from sexting occurs when there are breaches of consent. At the same time, our work in this space shows navigating consent online is much more complex than it might initially seem.</p>
<h2>When sexting can lead to harm</h2>
<p>People sext for numerous reasons, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36155725/">such as to</a> flirt, to maintain intimate relationships, or for body image reinforcement. But this act can also be weaponized. Non-consensual forms of sexting include:</p>
<ul>
<li>coerced sexting, where someone is forced or manipulated into sexting</li>
<li>receiving unwanted sexts (also known as “cyberflashing”) </li>
<li>non-consensual sharing of someone’s sexts with others.</li>
</ul>
<p>These examples of image-based abuse are highly <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2018.0291">problematic</a> and harmful to victims. Those who have had their intimate images distributed without their consent (sometimes problematically referred to as “revenge porn”) are more likely to <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/issues-and-advice/sending-nudes-sexting">experience</a> stigma, shame, reduced employment prospects, suicidal thoughts or self-harm as a result. </p>
<p>Yet, in two studies <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563218305582">published in 2019</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106460">2021</a>, we found people who share these intimate images are usually either unaware or dismissive of the potential concerns. </p>
<p>These people nominated a range of motivations which could be considered relatively harmless, such as sharing pictures because the person depicted was “hot” (according to 44% of respondents), or seeing it as “not a big deal” (48%), or as a joke (31%). </p>
<h2>A case of crossed wires?</h2>
<p>Our latest study, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08862605231163886">published in</a> the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, found a stark difference between the proportion of people who said they had given consent to have their intimate images shared, and those who said they’d received consent to do this.</p>
<p>Specifically, from our survey of 2,126 young cisgender adults, 8% said they had knowingly given permission for their sexts to be shared. Men (17.7%) were almost six times more likely than women (3.4%) to have consented to this.</p>
<p>In contrast, of those who indicated they had shared another person’s sexts, 20% said they had received prior consent (with no substantial differences between men and women).</p>
<p>When it came to unwanted or unwelcome sexts, women were more likely to non-consensually disseminate these images. This suggests at least some non-consensual forwarding of nudes may relate to not having wanted to receive them in the first place. </p>
<p>We don’t yet have a large enough sample to determine the rates for people outside the gender binary. However, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12147-022-09304-y">preliminary data</a> from our work suggest their experiences may be similar to those of cisgender women. </p>
<p>Overall, our findings raise important questions about how people conceptualise “consent” when navigating digital spaces. The discrepancy between those who said they received permission to forward someone’s sexts and those who said they gave it suggests something is amiss. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-we-aligned-sexual-consent-laws-across-australia-but-this-faces-formidable-challenges-196115">It's time we aligned sexual consent laws across Australia – but this faces formidable challenges</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>Progress is pending</h2>
<p>There is currently little research and minimal legislative clarity regarding how we define and apply digital consent, both in Australia and globally.</p>
<p>Navigating consent online isn’t as straightforward as in face-to-face situations. While the initial exchange of intimate images between two people is often consensual, questions of consent tend to become murkier over time.</p>
<p>For example, what happens if you shared your intimate images happily at the start of a relationship, but it has since gone sour and ended? </p>
<p>Also, since consent can be revoked at any time, should we enforce the deletion of intimate images once the sender revokes their consent? How would this process be managed and monitored? </p>
<p>Further, how would affirmative consent (which has been introduced via legislation in several states) play out online? How do we define “enthusiastic consent” in an online interaction? </p>
<p>This is clearly a topical issue. A federal <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/sexualcontentlaws">parliamentary inquiry</a> is under way to address current and proposed consent laws. </p>
<p>Ideally, the concept of online consent would be included within respectful relationship education. Young people should know how to have clear conversations about how their intimate images may be used – both in the present, and in the future when a relationship has ended.</p>
<p>Our ongoing research is focused on finding ways for people to articulate their expectations around consent realistically and effectively. In the meantime, if your intimate images have been uploaded online, or otherwise shared without your permission, there are steps you can take. </p>
<p>If the individual responsible won’t respond or willingly withdraw the images, you can contact the <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/report">e-Safety Commissioner</a> to have them taken down from online.</p>
<p>There are also legal implications for those who share someone’s intimate images without consent – or threaten to do so. If you’re in this situation, contact your state or territory police as a first step. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mandatory-consent-education-is-a-huge-win-for-australia-but-consent-is-just-one-small-part-of-navigating-relationships-177456">Mandatory consent education is a huge win for Australia – but consent is just one small part of navigating relationships</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Mary Clancy has previously received funding from the Geelong Football Club for the review and evaluation of their CyberCats program, a school-based cyberbullying and sexting prevention program for Yr 7s. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bianca Klettke has previously received funding from the Geelong Football Club for the review and evaluation of their Cyber Cats program, a school-based cyberbullying and sexting prevention program for Year 7s in the Geelong region.</span></em></p>The sharing of intimate images has been on the rise among young people. But research shows navigating consent in these situations can come with a lot of grey areas.Elizabeth Mary Clancy, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Deakin UniversityBianca Klettke, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2090902023-07-13T20:39:57Z2023-07-13T20:39:57ZMounties in crisis: The systemic failure to address sexual abuse within the RCMP<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537040/original/file-20230712-35817-of56i6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6490%2C3911&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">RCMP officers in red serge march at a regimental funeral in Richmond, B.C. in November 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/mounties-in-crisis-the-systemic-failure-to-address-sexual-abuse-within-the-rcmp" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The RCMP has a problem when it comes to sexual abuse within the ranks — and it apparently lacks the ability to deal with it.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20210930/05-en.aspx">Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution</a> (ICHR) was established in 2021 following a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-merlo-davidson-final-report-1.5807022">landmark class-action lawsuit</a> that resulted in the government paying more than $125 million to 2,304 female RCMP members who experienced sexual assault and harassment in the line of duty. </p>
<p>As an ostensibly arms-length body within the RCMP’s chain of command, its mission is to investigate workplace violence and related misconduct in the RCMP — although it so far seems to be failing to do so.</p>
<p>Since its inception, the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-independent-centre-harassment-resolution-1.6891399">ICHR has received more than 900 complaints from RCMP officers</a>. Only 325 cases have been resolved, indicating serious process issues within the ICHR. </p>
<h2>Complainants await justice</h2>
<p>Plagued with delays and questionable decisions, the ICHR has left many complainants in limbo, creating uncertainty and a further loss of confidence. To alleviate this backlog, the <a href="https://usje-sesj.com/en/usje-letter-to-rcmp-commissioner-regarding-ichr-investigators/">RCMP’s leadership once proposed assigning Mounties to the ICHR to be investigators</a>, showing a disturbing, unsurprising lack of adherence to the independent nature of the process. </p>
<p>Instead, the ICHR ended up outsourcing cases to contract investigators.</p>
<p>Mountie Nicole Patapoff has <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/rcmp-faces-federal-court-challenge-over-dismissed-harassment-complaint-1.6350051">sought a federal court judicial review</a> challenging the ICHR’s denial of her harassment complaint. </p>
<p>In June 2021, she alleges fellow officer Paul Christensen made misogynistic and degrading remarks to her during obligatory firearms training, telling her to “go home” and clean her house in order to strengthen her trigger finger. He also allegedly made comments about her appearance. </p>
<p>The ICHR dismissed Patapoff’s complaint, which her lawyers claim was unjustified and in violation the RCMP’s harassment criteria. The ICHR later told Patapoff that the person who investigated her complaint was removed from the list of approved investigators.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1647986037162115072"}"></div></p>
<h2>Culture of silence</h2>
<p>Historically, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-sexual-harassment-history-1.3453413">allegations of sexual harassment</a>, gender-based violence and bullying have plagued the RCMP. </p>
<p>The RCMP’s culture has been marked by a reluctance to acknowledge and address these issues, resulting in fear and silence among the rank and file. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-blue-wall-of-silence-allows-bullying-sexual-abuse-and-violence-to-infect-police-forces-198487">culture of silence</a> negatively impacts the mental health and well-being of its members — not to mention public trust.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-blue-wall-of-silence-allows-bullying-sexual-abuse-and-violence-to-infect-police-forces-198487">The 'blue wall' of silence allows bullying, sexual abuse and violence to infect police forces</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The RCMP is not alone. Canadian law enforcement has a dark history of actively ignoring and covering up sexual assault and misconduct. </p>
<p>An example is the case of <a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-blue-wall-the-toxic-culture-that-left-a-vancouver-police-officer-dead-204743">Const. Nicole Chan of the Vancouver Police Department</a>, who took her own life after years of bullying, harassment and sexual abuse by co-workers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-blue-wall-the-toxic-culture-that-left-a-vancouver-police-officer-dead-204743">Behind the blue wall: The toxic culture that left a Vancouver police officer dead</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Sadly, nothing is new here — time and time again, when left to police themselves, law enforcement agencies have mishandled these files and consequently lost the moral authority to govern themselves regarding sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment among their members.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A balding grey haired man in a dark suit and wearing glasses" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537046/original/file-20230712-16-xhzqwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michel Bastarache is seen outside Federal Court in Toronto in May 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a 2020 report, former <a href="https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/final-report-implementation-merlo-davidson-settlement-agreement">Supreme Court Justice Michel Bastarache</a> exposed a corrosive culture within the RCMP that tolerates racist, homophobic and misogynistic attitudes. Despite this, there has been an unsettling silence and insufficient action to address these pervasive issues.</p>
<h2>Inability to handle misconduct</h2>
<p>When those designated with protecting the public become predators, the situation becomes dire. Alarmingly, the federal government continues to defer responsibility of investigating and disciplining bullying and sexual abuse to the RCMP, despite its manifest incapability to do so effectively. </p>
<p>The RCMP’s ICHR, <a href="https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/lrhr-rtdp/centre-harassment-resolution-harcelement-eng.htm">despite its claim that it’s a “centralized, independent unit,”</a> lacks a real arms-length distance, authority and oversight to make meaningful change.</p>
<p>In addition to perpetuating systemic abuse, this flawed system of oversight further tarnishes the RCMP’s reputation. Urgent, meaningful action is required, including delegating investigative and discipline authority far removed from the RCMP’s chain of command.</p>
<p>Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, like his predecessors, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/mendicino-commits-to-rcmp-reform">seems powerless to effect change</a>. The RCMP seems incapable of policing itself and there’s next to no public oversight of its inaction.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A grey-haired man in uniform gestures as he speaks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537047/original/file-20230712-40921-prm6on.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mike Duheme responds to a question at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa in November 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme does not appear to prioritize these issues, and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/it-shook-me-report-details-toxic-and-hateful-culture-within-rcmp-1.5195954">like his predecessor Brenda Lucki</a>, there’s no evidence he has a meaningful plan to address the problem. </p>
<p>To date, he’s not commented on the biggest issue facing the force, while it should be his top priority. This indicates a systemic absence of leadership and suggests any commitment to institutional reform is mere lip service.</p>
<h2>Reform urgently required</h2>
<p>Real change must happen in terms of RCMP leadership.</p>
<p>That includes revising hiring practices to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/inside-the-criminal-mind/201712/the-thinking-processes-sexual-predators">screen for offender pathology</a>, including identifying what are known as the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/dark-triad">Dark Triad traits</a> — narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy — in a more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.008">comprehensive way to assess suitability</a>, especially for those seeking leadership roles. </p>
<p>This could help avoid tragic outcomes and help ensure truly independent — and timely — investigations of misconduct complaints. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brenda-luckis-retirement-will-not-fix-the-rcmps-structural-problems-200055">Brenda Lucki's retirement will not fix the RCMP’s structural problems</a>
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<p>In addition to education and training on human rights, respect and accountability within the force, these reforms should be mandated with real consequences if they’re ignored, including replacing the RCMP’s leadership and charging accused offenders under the federal <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/R-10/">Police Act</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A dark-haired woman speaks into a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537054/original/file-20230712-27-q91qwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theresa Tam delivers a speech about the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa in June 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam is mandated with addressing public health-related issues impacting Canadians. Tam can and should take a position on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/workplace-bullying-should-be-treated-as-a-public-health-issue-190330">public health implications of workplace violence</a> and use her powers under the Health Act to effect change — yet she too remains silent, as do her provincial counterparts.</p>
<p>Establishing a National Commissioner for Workplace Violence would be another solution. This commissioner could operate independently from the archaic and ineffective measures in employment law, enforce public health orders concentrating on workplace violence, harassment and bullying, and have the authority to implement change in organizations across the country. </p>
<p>The RCMP’s ongoing issues with systemic misconduct and harassment and its inability to police itself necessitate immediate, bold and systemic measures. The welfare of its members and the Canadian public are at stake.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209090/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Walker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The RCMP’s ongoing issues with systemic misconduct and harassment and its inability to police itself require immediate, bold and systemic measures.Jason Walker, Associate Professor, Graduate Studies, Leadership and People Management, University Canada WestLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2091282023-07-06T19:10:25Z2023-07-06T19:10:25ZWith another case of abuse in elite sport, why are we still waiting to protect NZ’s sportswomen from harm?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535947/original/file-20230706-27-7trhq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C7%2C4993%2C3326&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ten-year coaching ban handed down this week by Athletics New Zealand to national pole vault coach Jeremy McColl is merely the latest in a long line of investigations to reveal the failure of sports organisations to protect sportswomen.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://athletics.org.nz/statement-on-the-resignation-of-jeremy-mccoll/">independent investigation</a> into McColl found “serious misconduct” over a “number of years” with women athletes under his supervision. This included harassment, “inappropriate sexual references” (including through social media and texting) and poor response to injuries. </p>
<p>The case is both unique and sadly familiar. At least 12 New Zealand sports bodies have come under scrutiny in recent times for cultures where sportswomen experienced abuse. These include <a href="https://cdn.hpsnz.org.nz/content/uploads/2022/05/08025928/Final-report-9-May-2022.pdf">Cycling New Zealand</a>, <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018837811/nz-rugby-releases-report-into-culture-in-black-ferns">Rugby New Zealand</a>, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/300225661/gymnastics-review-calls-for-massive-shakeup-following-abuse-allegations">Gymnastics New Zealand</a>, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/122604637/canoe-racing-nz-facing-athlete-welfare-crisis-as-two-thirds-of-elite-womens-team-quit">Canoe Racing New Zealand</a>, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/domestic/107560554/review-into-nz-footballs-conduct-and-culture-set-to-be-released">NZ Football</a> and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/383323/black-sticks-had-serious-concerns-about-team-environment">Hockey New Zealand</a>. </p>
<p>This surely suggests there has been – and likely still is – systemic gendered abuse across New Zealand’s sport system. Urgent action is clearly needed.</p>
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<h2>High rates of abuse</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08862605211045096?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.1">Maltreatment</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X16301531?casa_token=Vj9fng1DplsAAAAA:orwK51LFtrygBU2wC7T3ola6CEZR4q1a93MrrFRWSpgfzAIWkEskZTti4Pd70nwoJUuuiRzz">interpersonal violence</a> – including neglect and physical, psychological and sexual violence – are common at all levels of sport for women, men and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/3/3/326">children</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17461391.2020.1781266?src=recsys">One study</a> of 1,665 elite athletes in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium found extremely high rates of reported physical violence (25%), sexual violence (31%) and psychological or emotional violence (72%). </p>
<p>Sportswomen were found to experience abuse more than men, particularly sexual violence. An <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08862605221114155?casa_token=tHE1zUcTxgoAAAAA%3Alsg07ugZ3mKdMd8FrrIQkra66AU1xXwLYUgmuYin-vUpixYZ-f0qRWllxDbb5KHnsNXFATYu6H4P">Australian study</a> found 82% of 886 people surveyed had experienced some form of interpersonal violence in sport as a child. Rates were higher among girls and gender-diverse individuals.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-price-of-gold-what-high-performance-sport-in-nz-must-learn-from-the-olivia-podmore-tragedy-166020">The price of gold — what high-performance sport in NZ must learn from the Olivia Podmore tragedy</a>
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<p>Over the past three decades, researchers have examined various forms of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/3/2/20">gender-based</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/101269097032002001?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1">sexual violence in sport</a>, usually perpetrated by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13573320802614950?casa_token=IsHzIVsgBB4AAAAA%3ADVmlkOQypQbnACr2-bt5BhbcZJpGNYW0w5v7X_2HRzt_VrsANH_e5Odvnnxvq0BvVYge2tVpRCqg">male coaches</a>, but <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13573322.2021.1890571?casa_token=h7FnIYK0J5cAAAAA%3A8ufYQDFw1AxONhlH1gPQ8zzNLEGhXd5pKK9kR3GIMy08TxgDW3ixigRHMEaUp2OyULtYsDOahhOl">also by others</a> in the wider “support” teams.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/019372397021002003?casa_token=-8yNcIaDWo8AAAAA:Zps0YGmgLm4BECTe5-5qE3D5dbOrWI2sjgyrGt3csLHw_bNDQrOV22Q0dsv_uxsGxuFr6w5FxQHF">coach-athlete relationship</a> inevitably involves an uneven balance of power. Abuse of that imbalance leads to significant harm and <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jcsp/9/3/article-p213.xml">negative health impacts</a>, with women athletes often <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430430802591019?casa_token=33y1Lc5UvdYAAAAA%3AWYaTUKw6RAciEP6TPPYPNi7Pfo9dfinZ3XDjgy9s53Sw4mc-qNRhUBBeZnaOC8fUWXvcYIG7TRAg">reluctant to report the abuse</a>. Some simply <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13552600208413338?src=recsys">withdraw from sport</a> altogether. </p>
<h2>A global problem</h2>
<p>These abusive relationships tend to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1441352318304455">exist within</a> hierarchical, patriarchal and “win at all costs” sporting cultures. Organisational structures and systems often work to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2159676X.2021.1920456">enable harmful practices</a>.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsc/12/4/article-p552.xml">research shows</a> gender-based violence is also increasingly happening online. And it is not only women athletes who experience it, but also <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10126902221137802">women in other roles</a>, such as officials, administrators and volunteers.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-sport-cultures-are-damaging-female-athletes-health-but-we-can-do-better-128376">Toxic sport cultures are damaging female athletes' health, but we can do better</a>
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<p>None of this is specific to New Zealand. Investigations have revealed gender-based violence across a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23750472.2022.2116089">range of sports internationally</a>, where systems consistently fail to protect and support women.</p>
<p>Furthermore, it remains a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-022-01742-8">significant blind spot</a> for many sports organisations and professionals. Legal liability and protecting the sport rather than the athlete become priorities. Change can be sluggish, often <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/5/68">lacking transparency and accountability</a>. </p>
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<h2>Slow progress</h2>
<p>The better news is that some governments and international sports organisations are developing safeguarding policies, procedures and toolkits. </p>
<p>An EU-led initiative has produced a <a href="http://voicesfortruthanddignity.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/VOICE-GOOD-PRACTISE-GUIDE_Einzelseiten_final.pdf">good practice guide</a> for sports bodies wanting to support athletes affected by sexual violence. And earlier this week, UNESCO published a <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385850.locale=en">handbook</a> offering practical ways to address violence against women and girls in sport.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/abuse-in-canadian-sports-highlights-gender-and-racial-inequities-198869">Abuse in Canadian sports highlights gender and racial inequities</a>
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<p>The International Olympic Committee also offers a “<a href="https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/IOC/What-We-Do/Promote-Olympism/Women-And-Sport/Boxes%20CTA/IOC_Safeguarding_Toolkit_ENG_Screen_Full1.pdf">toolkit</a>” to help national Olympic committees and international sports federations develop better policies and procedures. Various <a href="https://www.safesportinternational.com/">other organisations</a> are working towards the same goals.</p>
<p>Despite such initiatives, many sports organisations still <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02701367.2020.1844857?casa_token=sRm18ZtbOk0AAAAA%3AxwqXGDRdgIoTZQA4b1qe9qIYb3K4vrBNSmAnv5RQ-2YYUzRvxTZl_9QdkTltLIKdqVEDs4es6ki1">struggle to respond appropriately</a>. In particular, it is vital that <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2022.840221/full?&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Sports_and_Active_Living&id=840221">athletes themselves are involved</a> in developing safeguarding policies. </p>
<p><a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/06/28/bjsports-2023-106754.abstract">Researchers</a> and health professionals are increasingly calling for initiatives that centre the athlete and integrate holistic knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures and practices. We also cannot ignore the ways race, ethnicity, disability, gender identities and sexuality may <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/56/19/1064.abstract">amplify</a> the risks and harms of abuse in sport.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-black-ferns-review-shows-again-why-real-change-in-womens-high-performance-sport-is-urgently-overdue-181144">The Black Ferns review shows – again – why real change in women’s high performance sport is urgently overdue</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Change has to be urgent</h2>
<p>Meaningful change will require <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/2183019886?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true">education</a> for all those working in sport, athlete-centred policy and practice, and safe reporting pathways. Redress has to prioritise the needs of the abused. </p>
<p>Because women can be so reluctant to report abuse in the first place, it has been suggested a “<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.625410/full#B39">carrot not stick</a>” approach might work best. Teams and organisations that can show evidence of a positive, safe and healthy culture might be rewarded in future funding cycles, for example.</p>
<p>To that end, High Performance Sport New Zealand has launched a <a href="https://hpsnz.org.nz/about-us/news-media/high-performance-sport-nz-to-invest-273-million-in-new-strategy/">NZ$273 million strategy</a> that includes prioritising athlete wellbeing. Yet it still doesn’t address the gender dynamics at play here. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/long-range-goals-can-the-fifa-world-cup-help-level-the-playing-field-for-all-women-footballers-205213">Long-range goals: can the FIFA World Cup help level the playing field for all women footballers?</a>
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</p>
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<p>Education programmes aimed at coaches and support staff working with women should be mandatory. Sportswomen must be able to report any concerns without fear for their careers or wellbeing. And anyone who observes questionable behaviour must have appropriate channels to report their concerns.</p>
<p>Minister of Sport Grant Robertson announced an independent <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-standalone-integrity-entity-sport">Sport Integrity Working Group</a> last year. So far, though, we’ve seen no actions or stated commitment to safeguarding women.</p>
<p>Everyone deserves access to a safe sporting environment, and safeguarding women in sport is an urgent issue. We can’t sit back and wait for the next headline about another national sports organisation or another male coach under investigation. The time for change is now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209128/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsty Forsdike receives funding from the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions of the State Government of Victoria. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Holly Thorpe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Athletics New Zealand joins a long list of sports bodies dealing with abuse of female athletes. But systemic reform is taking far too long.Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Gender, University of WaikatoKirsty Forsdike, Senior Lecturer, La Trobe Business School, and Senior Researcher, Centre for Sport & Social Impact, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2078812023-06-16T12:38:57Z2023-06-16T12:38:57ZSouthern Baptist Convention votes to expel two churches with female pastors – a religion scholar explains how far back these battles go<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532259/original/file-20230615-19-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=110%2C5%2C3748%2C2475&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">SBC pastor Rev. Linda Barnes Popham with the choir at Fern Creek Baptist Church in May 21, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/2872abf866a54a18b56c3f0d36d2af2c?ext=true">AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During its two-day <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/anti-egalitarian-forces-make-clean-sweep-at-sbc-annual-meeting/">annual meeting</a> that began on June 13, 2023, the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirmed the ouster of its largest congregation that ordained women and began a process to amend its constitution to ensure its church membership “does not affirm, appoint or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind.” </p>
<p>Saddleback Church in Southern California was <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/southern-baptist-convention-ousts-its-largest-church-saddleback-for-having-a-woman-pastor/">kicked out</a> of the SBC in February 2023 for ordaining three of its longtime female staff members as ministers in 2021. Saddleback founder and former pastor Rick Warren appealed the church’s ejection at the 2023 conference.</p>
<p><a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/saddleback-and-fern-creek-churches-face-off-against-al-mohler-at-sbc-meeting/">Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president</a> Al Mohler rebutted Warren’s appeal, arguing that the issue of women’s ordination is a matter of “biblical commitment” and “biblical authority” that allows no room for compromise within the SBC. About <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/anti-egalitarian-forces-make-clean-sweep-at-sbc-annual-meeting/">88% of messengers</a> – Southern Baptists’ language for delegates – then voted to reaffirm the church’s expulsion. </p>
<p>The proposed amendment to exclude any church that hires a woman as a pastor must be voted on again at next year’s annual meeting. The SBC requires a majority vote at two consecutive annual meetings to amend its constitution.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a black T-shirt speaking in front of a microphone while holding a piece of paper, while several others stand behind him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532265/original/file-20230615-27-kx510b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, makes an appeal to the Southern Baptist Convention to let his church back into the denomination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SouthernBaptists/aca80c48ba9042baa3f45a8eae4825ae/photo?Query=southern%20baptist&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=824&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Peter Smith</a></span>
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<p>These <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-women-in-the-southern-baptist-convention-have-fought-for-decades-to-be-ordained-161061">battles over women in ordained ministry</a> in the SBC are not new. </p>
<p>As someone who grew up and was ordained Southern Baptist while I was a religion professor at a Christian college, I am not surprised to see what has happened in the SBC annual meeting this week. I’ve <a href="https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/users/susan-shaw">researched Southern Baptists</a> for 25 years, and I’m aware that, since the SBC’s founding in 1845, Southern Baptists have had a complicated history with women, who have often been maligned and mistreated within the denomination.</p>
<h2>The ‘woman question’</h2>
<p>Historian <a href="https://addran.tcu.edu/faculty_staff/elizabeth-flowers/">Elizabeth Flowers</a> explains that matters of women’s roles as preachers, teachers and deacons were <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469618920/into-the-pulpit/">frequent subjects of disagreement among Baptists</a> from the denomination’s beginnings. </p>
<p>Women were not allowed to serve as <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Baptist_polity_as_I_see_it.html?id=MKJf-ovEqj4C">messengers</a> to the SBC until 1918. </p>
<p>When Southern Baptist women <a href="https://www.mupress.org/Southern-Baptist-Sisters-In-Search-of-Status-1845-2000-P482.aspx">formed a national organization</a> to support missionary work in 1888, they had to hold their first meeting in a Methodist church down the street from the Baptist church where the SBC was meeting. Until the 20th century, only men gave the missionary organization’s report to the SBC. </p>
<p>Indeed, women in the U.S. did not have the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/womens-suffrage-history-timeline.htm">right to vote</a> at that time. The SBC’s practices certainly reflected larger social norms around gender, but its reasoning was also theological. Those beliefs formed a basis for gender hierarchy that ultimately triumphed over more moderate egalitarianism in the late 20th century.</p>
<h2>Southern Baptist controversy</h2>
<p>In the 1970s, greater numbers of women entered the six Southern Baptist seminaries, many professing a calling to the pastorate, even though most churches still refused to ordain them. </p>
<p>I was a student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1980s. By that time, women were about a third of the student body, although very few women were professors.</p>
<p>That was also a time when fundamentalists <a href="http://www.centerforbaptiststudies.org/pamphlets/freedom/sbc.htm">launched their takeover</a> of the SBC. In addition to the seminaries, the convention owns numerous publishing and missionary agencies worth billions of dollars. </p>
<p>Fundamentalists used <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-biblical-inerrancy-a-new-testament-scholar-explains-163613">biblical inerrancy</a>, the idea that the Bible is without error in history, science or theology, as a test for theological faithfulness. </p>
<p>Beginning with the denomination’s annual conference in 1979, those fundamentalists were able to <a href="https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817308049/the-new-crusades-the-new-holy-land/">inspire messengers</a> to elect fundamentalist leaders. They claimed that moderate Baptists who did not accept inerrancy did not believe the Bible.</p>
<p>The new leaders <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/baptist-battles/9780813515571">purged the moderates</a> from SBC employment and leadership. </p>
<p>While fundamentalists claimed <a href="http://kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=2105#.XGrr07iIaUk">that takeover</a> was about biblical inerrancy, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/236180/pdf">in reality it was as much, if not more, about women</a>. As historian <a href="https://history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/barry-g-hankins">Barry Hankins</a> also concludes, the “gender issue” eventually <a href="https://www.uapress.ua.edu/search-results/?keyword=uneasy+in+babylon">became a central issue</a> for Southern Baptist fundamentalists as their takeover of the SBC proceeded.</p>
<p>A number of Southern Baptist churches had ordained women, and some had called women as pastors. Many moderate churches espoused egalitarian marital relationships, and <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA165018129&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00055719&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=oregon_oweb&isGeoAuthType=true&aty=geo">SBC educational literature</a> often supported women’s equality in church and home.</p>
<p>Even as fundamentalist Baptist leaders claimed their movement was about the Bible, they <a href="http://utpress.org/title/southern-baptists-observed/">specifically targeted women</a> and <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/baptist-battles/9780813515571">worked to reverse</a> women’s progress. </p>
<h2>First in the Edenic fall</h2>
<p>In 1984, as fundamentalists gained greater control, the SBC passed a <a href="https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-ordination-and-the-role-of-women-in-ministry/">resolution against women’s ordination</a>. The resolution said that women were excluded from ordained ministry to “preserve a submission God requires because the man was first in creation and the woman was first in the Edenic fall.” </p>
<p>In other words, because Eve was the first to eat the fruit that led to the humans’ expulsion from Eden in the Book of Genesis, they argued, God compels all women to submit to men.</p>
<p>Furthermore, <a href="https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-ordination-and-the-role-of-women-in-ministry/">the resolution</a> argued for the preservation of “God’s delegated order of authority” – “God the head of Christ, Christ the head of man, man the head of woman.” </p>
<p>In Baptist polity, local churches are autonomous and free to ordain and call as pastor whom they will. The Southern Baptist Convention has no official control over local churches.</p>
<p>Some local churches did ordain and call women to the pastorate, and their local Baptist associations “disfellowshipped” those congregations, <a href="http://www.bpnews.net/45692/tenn-assoc-disfellowships-church-with-female-pastor">excluding them</a> from participating in the local association. </p>
<p>Fundamentalists appointed Al Mohler president of Southern Seminary in 1993, and he forced <a href="https://www.unitedseminary.edu/about-us/molly-t-marshall/">Molly Marshall</a>, the first woman to teach theology at a Southern Baptist seminary, <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/mohler-presidency-marked-by-change/">to resign in 1994</a>, primarily over her support for women in ministry. </p>
<h2>‘Gracious submission’</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book lying open on a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532262/original/file-20230615-23-et5jry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The idea that the Bible is without error in history, science or theology was used as a test for theological faithfulness by Southern Baptist fundamentalist leaders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clairewhetton/2216445457/in/photolist-4nRS1R-4NB7sY-bnh5mb-8ShpRH-2Gah5n-8DAytv-bsJcvE-8RJqYu-2sqmC9-qsHMyJ-8QG6Uc-jvmx9b-8LwCCz-aqER91-p8YVh7-PGM6W1-gq5Mw-8MieGD-r2cE3d-9h2jYG-scAcbJ-qDCdGW-7w4yGQ-8LS8YG-5UmiCv-4oSuMn-dN3H2g-rCfnqc-doLuz9-9NwGNN-6mPsqo-dRTgg-46XMRA-8SkGgk-hdpTVm-4Duj2t-r4993-8TDYe8-5r9n3V-8RqkfM-btEjgF-4DhiWe-muB5SG-5LxEsH-XNqCp-kg77a-6bz3yX-e5Kh2G-6VYQZG-CvJDb">claire.whetton/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2000, the SBC changed its statement of faith, <a href="http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp">noting that</a> women and men “are of equal worth before God” while insisting “A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband.” </p>
<p>In 2003, an administrator at Southern Seminary claimed that women have a desire to rule over men, and so <a href="https://www.ethicsdaily.com/seminary-magazine-describes-biblical-womanhood-cms-3663/">men must exercise their rightful “rulership</a>” over women. </p>
<p>For Southern Baptists, the statement of faith is not a creed but rather a set of largely agreed-upon beliefs. The statement is not binding on any individual or local church. Seminaries and denominational agencies, such as the International Mission Board, however, must work within the guidelines of the statement. </p>
<p>The 2000 statement of faith <a href="http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp">also asserts</a>, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” In response, in 2004, Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/namb-stops-endorsing-female-military-chaplains/#.XGrWnMR7nic">stopped endorsing</a> women as chaplains. </p>
<p>Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary then <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16828466/ns/us_news-education/t/professor-seminary-ousted-her-over-gender/#.XHGBPcR7nic">used that statement</a> in 2007 to remove Hebrew professor Sheri Klouda from its faculty, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/I-Suffer-Not-a-Woman-to/33121">simply because she was a woman</a>. Klouda was not ordained and did not support the ordination of women. In seminary leaders’ thinking, however, she was teaching men the Bible, which they forbid women to do. </p>
<p>They were able to remove her on the basis of gender because religious institutions are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/business/09religious.html">exempt from gender-based nondiscrimination laws</a> for positions that have an explicit religious function, such as pastor or seminary professor, if their beliefs sanction such discrimination. </p>
<h2>Future purge</h2>
<p>If the proposed constitutional amendment passes next year, it will likely lead to a purge of many other Southern Baptist congregations. Already, the pastor who proposed the amendment has <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/advocates-for-constitutional-ban-on-female-pastors-in-sbc-publish-a-list-of-170-churches-they-deem-in-violation/">compiled a list of 170 churches</a> that he claims are in violation of the ban. </p>
<p>However, immediately after the SBC vote, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a network of Baptist churches that formed 30 years ago when moderates left the SBC following the fundamentalist takeover, <a href="https://cbfblog.com/2023/06/14/on-women-in-ministry-and-congregational-autonomy/">issued a statement</a> reaffirming its support for women in ministry and congregational autonomy to ordain and call both women and men to pastoral leadership.</p>
<p>Given Southern Baptists’ history, I doubt the issue will be resolved no matter the vote next summer. Women in the SBC will likely continue to feel a call to ministry despite the Convention’s actions, and there will be resistance. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a piece <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexism-has-long-been-part-of-the-culture-of-southern-baptists-112209">first published on March 6, 2019</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207881/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan M. Shaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Women have often been maligned and mistreated within the Southern Baptist denomination, writes a scholar who has researched the SBC for 25 years.Susan M. Shaw, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Oregon State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067472023-06-05T21:04:56Z2023-06-05T21:04:56ZFar-right Hindu nationalists are using digital propaganda to delegitimize India’s wrestler protests<p>For months now, Indian wrestling athletes, including Olympic medallists, have been leading protests in the capital of New Delhi. They are <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65370658">seeking the arrest</a> of the Wrestling Federation of India’s president, Brij Bhushan Singh, who is facing allegations that he sexually harassed athletes.</p>
<p>Bhushan Singh has denied the accusations and <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/wfi-chief-brij-bhushan-says-pocso-act-is-misused-will-force-govt-to-change-it-101685082570069.html">has criticized</a> child protection laws that he claims are being misused against him.</p>
<p>In response to their calls going unanswered, India’s Olympic wrestling champions recently threatened to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65751102">toss their medals</a> into the Ganges river. </p>
<p>Bhushan Singh is also a member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The wrestlers’ struggle for justice, dignity and a safe sporting environment has gained support from <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/wrestlers-protest-sportspersons-writers-civil-society-organisations-express-solidarity-in-bengaluru/article66904886.ece">civil society groups</a>, <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/wrestlers-stir-gets-political-heft-as-more-opposition-leaders-extend-support/article66789469.ece">opposition parties</a> and <a href="https://scroll.in/latest/1050098/farmers-group-calls-for-nationwide-demonstrations-on-june-1-to-support-protesting-wrestlers">farmers’ unions</a>. </p>
<p>However, far-right Hindu nationalists loyal to the government and its <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4401329">Hindutva</a> ideology have attempted to bully and discredit the protesters.</p>
<h2>Digital propaganda</h2>
<p>A big part of that effort involves using digital propaganda like memes, disinformation campaigns and digitally altered content. These tactics have been used to target social movements in the past, such as the <a href="https://scroll.in/article/964873/bhima-koregaon-spyware-attacks-on-rights-defenders-show-continuing-attempt-to-fix-case">Bhima Koregaon protests</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3501247.3531584">protest movements against proposed changes to citizenship</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59338245">farming laws</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/world/asia/india-farmer-protest.html">2020-2021 farmers’ movement</a>, the wrestlers’ protest is facing rampant demonization on social media. The wrestlers have even been accused of being linked to <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/support-protesting-wrestlers-punjab-familiar-line-attack-khalistani-8633577/">the Khalistanis</a>, a banned Sikh separatist movement in India.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65757400">digitally altered image</a> of wrestlers Sangeeta and Vinesh Phogat recently appeared online showing them smiling inside a police van. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1664632459068055553"}"></div></p>
<p>These kinds of altered images are designed to not only create confusion about the protests, but also downplay <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/wrestlers-being-dragged-around-so-sad-sunil-chhetri-irfan-pathan-condemn-delhi-police-brutality-8634464/">police violence</a>. </p>
<p>During protests against the government’s proposed amendments to the citizenship law, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/12/sulli-deals-a-virtual-auction-of-indian-muslim-women">apps</a> were <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/10/india-bulli-bai-app-auction-muslim-women-tech-weaponised-abuse">set up</a> by Hindutva supporters to hold fake online auctions of Muslim women participating in protests.</p>
<p>Technology is being used to spread fake information and delegitimize protest movements. This means we need to reassess how online disinformation is challenged. </p>
<p>By the time these claims are debunked by <a href="https://www.cits.ucsb.edu/fake-news/protecting-ourselves-fact">fact-checkers</a>, the harm caused by the spread of disinformation has already taken its toll on the protest movements. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2019.1668894">Studies have demonstrated</a> how an individual’s pre-existing beliefs, knowledge and ideological orientation significantly impede their willingness to accept facts that contradict them.</p>
<h2>Online counter-speech</h2>
<p>Technology has become a key driving force behind social movements and protests. Think the Arab Spring and the Black Lives Matter movement. It has given protest movements a greater ability to expand, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3555547">build coalitions</a> and challenge the propaganda and disinformation of those in power with counter-speech. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-021-00314-6">Online counter-speech</a> refers to how people counteract and respond to propaganda. It usually involves <a href="https://www.turing.ac.uk/blog/counterspeech-better-way-tackling-online-hate">polite and non-aggressive responses</a>, sharing fact-checked information and exposing the logical inconsistencies of messages shared online. </p>
<p>Political communication scholar <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003004431-53/countering-hate-speech-babak-bahador?context=ubx&refId=00608c05-ea24-422d-bcf1-53a52df83eb2">Babak Bahador identifies counter-speech</a> as a strategy of resistance that helps counter hate speech and propaganda without infringing on the right to free speech. Counter-speech confronts hate-speech, disinformation and propagandist viewpoints head-on to diminish their influence and popularity in online spaces. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman holding a microphone speaks to people at a protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529208/original/file-20230530-29-x6h3z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat speaks during a protest in New Delhi, India in January 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in India, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9ovHqv_k-g">where dissenting voices are increasingly marginalized and silenced</a>, protests struggle to counter the government’s narratives. Social movements face online propaganda campaigns, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/lok-sabha-2019-elections-how-bots-helped-pro-and-anti-modi-hashtags-manipulate-twitter-trends-5666179/">use of political bots</a>, monitoring through spyware like <a href="https://thewire.in/tech/pegasus-spyware-bhima-koregaon-activists-warning-whatsapp">Pegasus</a> and even internet shutdowns. </p>
<p>These tactics are designed to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/saudi-electronic-army-floods-twitter-with-insults-and-mistruths-after-khashoggis-disappearance/2018/10/19/98044874-d311-11e8-a4db-184311d27129_story.html">delegitimize dissenting voices</a>, control the flow of information, deter popular mobilization, hide human rights abuses and unleash a collective punishment on any groups that challenge the authorities. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/india-farmers-protests-internet-shutdown-highlights-modis-record-of-stifling-digital-dissent-154287">India farmers' protests: internet shutdown highlights Modi's record of stifling digital dissent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In India, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/7/us-academic-conference-dismantling-global-hindutva-hindu-right-wing-groups">well-organized</a> digital propaganda <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/academics-harassed-criticism-india-politics-1.6402486">campaigns</a> have significant advantages over protest movements and voices from the margins. The wrestlers protest has benefited from the support of famous Olympians and their social media reach. But most protest movements do not have this marginal advantage in online spaces.</p>
<h2>Challenging propaganda</h2>
<p>To support counter-speech that can challenge the propaganda of governments, experts and academics need to rethink how efforts like digital media literacy programs and fact-checking can effectively respond. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in black at a protest holding his phone. A group of people march behind him holding signs and waving flags." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529207/original/file-20230530-19-kt9zyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia (center in black) joins India’s top female wrestlers and their supporters in a march towards the India Gate in New Delhi in May 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The challenge is significant, particularly when Narendra Modi’s government is increasingly trying to control online spaces. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/19/vile-censorship-india-proposed-fake-news-law-for-social-media-egi">A proposed amendment</a> to the country’s internet rules would give the government more power to police online content. The amendment would allow the creation of a fact-checking body that would have the power to order websites to <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/05/cpj-joins-call-for-indian-government-to-withdraw-latest-amendment-to-information-technology-rules/">take down content the government deems false</a>.</p>
<p>This poses severe risks to critics and journalists. It would essentially allow the government to penalize any dissent and target any opposition. </p>
<p>On the one hand, we need to demand accountability from online and social media platforms regarding the content posted and transparency on their algorithmic operations. On the other hand, we need platforms to maintain their autonomy and not yield to government pressure for censorship. </p>
<p>Profit-oriented digital platforms alone cannot address these issues. In order to combat propaganda and disinformation, it is crucial to support democratically owned businesses like <a href="https://platform.coop/">platform co-operatives</a>, independent journalism and develop <a href="https://doi.org/10.16997/book60">public service media and internet platforms</a> that value truth and transparency and treat people like citizens, not consumers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206747/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashique Ali Thuppilikkat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Digitally altered images and other online propaganda are being used to silence marginalized voices and stifle protest movements.Ashique Ali Thuppilikkat, PhD student, Faculty of Information, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2056312023-05-29T21:09:55Z2023-05-29T21:09:55ZFocusing on consent ignores better ways of preventing sexual violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527080/original/file-20230518-23-6vx4uf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C25%2C5734%2C3808&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Consent is too low a standard for promoting ethical sex — even if it may be the best available legal standard.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early May, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/jury-reaches-verdict-e-jean-carroll-rape-defamation-case-trump-rcna82778">a New York jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996</a>. The jury did not find him liable for allegedly raping her. </p>
<p>In the wake of this high-profile case, and the many others of the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/me-too-sexual-assault-harvey-weinstein-1.6633811">#MeToo movement</a>, what should we be doing to prevent sexual violence and promote equitable sex? So far, consent is getting too much of the spotlight. Schools, universities and popular media are focusing heavily on consent in their efforts to curb <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2020001/article/00005-eng.htm">high rates of sexual violence</a>.</p>
<p>Many advocates and educators have recently shifted their messaging from <a href="https://www.cfs-fcee.ca/campaigns/sexualized-violence">“no means no”</a> to “yes means yes” and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1515746">“consent is sexy.”</a> This messaging promotes voluntary and affirmative agreement. That is, the idea that silence does not mean consent. </p>
<p>Regardless, consent is much <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460717708151">too low a standard</a> for promoting ethical sex — even if it <em>may</em> be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv9zchhg">best available legal standard</a>. And focusing on consent limits our ability to create better approaches to dealing with sexual violence. </p>
<h2>It’s time to stop focusing on consent</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graphic of a woman's silhouette with the words: No means no." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527069/original/file-20230518-28487-q1aef2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Messaging that focuses on consent does not always prevent sexual violence and can take focus away from more effective strategies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sexual violence is the use of verbal pressure or physical violence to engage in any sexual activity with someone who is unwilling or hasn’t consented. It is <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/14842-eng.htm">most often committed by men against women and other marginalized groups</a> and is supported by societal stereotypes about gender and sexuality. </p>
<p>As part of my research over the past decade, I have interviewed women who were victimized and men who perpetrated sexual violence. I have also conducted focus groups with men about heterosexual sex and dating. My <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607221096760">critique of consent</a> is based on this and other research. </p>
<p>Here are five reasons we should stop focusing on consent and start thinking about more ethical values and norms.</p>
<p>1) <strong>Consensual sex is not always wanted, pleasurable or free from coercion.</strong> </p>
<p>People can consent to sex they don’t want or enjoy. Women often agree to sex they don’t want to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216652507">avoid hurting a partner’s feelings</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00075">to maintain a relationship</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490802398381">to be seen as a good partner</a>. </p>
<p>People can also obtain consent by pressuring or coercing someone. Men are more likely than women to use violence and coercion in order to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1363/psrh.12041">obtain someone’s consent</a>, often after they’ve gently declined.</p>
<p>Messaging about consent like “no means no” and “yes means yes” implies that it’s okay to continue trying if one’s partner hasn’t clearly said “yes” or “no.”</p>
<p>2) <strong>Teaching people how to give and understand consent isn’t going to prevent sexual violence because sexual violence isn’t usually about misunderstanding.</strong> </p>
<p>There’s little to no evidence that education about consent reduces sexual violence. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01110-3">Most men already understand</a> when women don’t want to have sex, even without a firm “no.” And knowing how to ask for consent isn’t going to stop those who choose to ignore refusals or use violence. In the context of men’s sexual violence against women, consent doesn’t change men’s feelings of entitlement to sex and women’s bodies. </p>
<p>In the words of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216652507">one woman I interviewed who was victimized</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“He didn’t necessarily…force himself upon me, but…he knew that there wasn’t really consent. Like I gave it, but not really fully.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white poster with the words: always ask, consent is sexy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527070/original/file-20230518-29-f4pdz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Knowing how to ask for consent isn’t going to stop those who choose to ignore refusals or use violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>3) <strong>Consent doesn’t require meaningful, collaborative decision-making between partners.</strong> </p>
<p>Consent boils down to one partner’s agreement in response to another’s request. It is insufficient for promoting deeper collaboration in deciding whether and how sex will take place. In the case of sex between women and men, this usually means that men’s desires are prioritized. Consent is also something you do <em>before</em> sex, rather than an ongoing and embedded <em>part</em> of sex. </p>
<p>4) <strong>Consent doesn’t disrupt the stereotypes that support sexual violence.</strong> </p>
<p>For example, false stereotypes suggest men can’t control their sex drives. Some men <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2018.1500406">use these stereotypes</a> to claim it’s not right or fair for their partners to change their minds or stop sex once started or consented to.</p>
<p>The expectation that sex should be natural and spontaneous can make it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-3938.2011.01108.x">difficult for women to stop unwanted sex</a>. It also means that <a href="https://theconversation.com/talking-about-sex-is-awkward-so-how-can-teenagers-just-ask-for-consent-104428">many young people</a> view consent as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01110-3">disruptive to this “natural” progression</a>.</p>
<p>5) <strong>Consent can be used as an excuse for sexual violence.</strong> </p>
<p>It allows perpetrators to justify sexual violence because they can claim the victim gave unclear responses. Popular consent messages like “yes means yes” and “no means no” are easily co-opted and provide a ready-made excuse.</p>
<p>For example, men in two of my studies used the importance of consent to blame sexual violence on women for not clearly communicating their lack of consent. And because we often see communication as being up to women, these men didn’t need to take any responsibility for asking or clarifying. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2018.1500406">One perpetrator I interviewed</a> even referred specifically to a consent message heard on campus to simultaneously admit that he should have listened to his partner while blaming her:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I also told her to maybe be a bit more direct when it comes to ‘Yes’ and ‘No,’ because she was providing answers that were a little cloudy. Which I know with all the consent stuff up on the walls here it’s, you know, ‘only yes means yes.’”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>If not consent, then what?</h2>
<p>Moving beyond the language of consent will open new possibilities for promoting truly equitable and ethical sex. At a minimum, we need to teach young people how to communicate more meaningfully about sex. </p>
<p>We need to teach that empathy, mutual decision-making and ongoing communication are integral components of sex, rather than preconditions that only take place before sex. And we need to teach and expect boys and men to listen to women’s desires and care about their well-being.</p>
<p>Reducing sexual violence and promoting ethical sex is also going to require substantial cultural change. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018789153">Prevention programs</a> that, in part, challenge what it means to relate as women and men are some of the most effective at reducing sexual violence. <a href="https://www.sieccan.org/gbv">Comprehensive sexual health education</a> that teaches young people about these issues early in life is also essential.</p>
<p>The idea of consent should have never had more than a supporting role in defining ethical sex. It’s time to shift the spotlight.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The author’s research that informed the conceptualization of this piece was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>In the wake of the #MeToo movement, there has been a lot of focus on consent. However, that focus takes the spotlight away from other strategies that can better inform ethical sex.Nicole K. Jeffrey, Adjunct Assistant Professor & Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046122023-05-24T12:17:56Z2023-05-24T12:17:56ZAnesthesia can cause disturbing sexual hallucinations, leading to lasting psychological trauma<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527119/original/file-20230518-17-zdnrt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2119%2C1414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Having witnesses or recording devices during procedures requiring anesthesia could help prevent opportunities for sexual assault.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/anaesthetist-placing-mask-on-patient-royalty-free-image/1178748279">Science Photo Library/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some patients can have vivid and detailed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.2233">sexual hallucinations during anesthesia with sedative-hypnotic drugs</a> like propofol, midazolam, diazepam and nitrous oxide. Some make suggestive or sexual comments or act out, such as grabbing or kissing medical professionals or touching themselves in a sexual way. Others awaken erroneously believing they were sexually assaulted. Why does this happen? </p>
<p>Doctors have long known that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/sedative-hypnotic-drug">sedative-hypnotic drugs</a>, which slow down brain activity to induce calm or sleep, can affect a patient’s perception of reality. A 1984 review of the drugs midazolam, ketamine and thiopental found that 18% of patients receiving anesthesia for a dental or medical procedure had a <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/pre96/018654Orig1s000rev.pdf">hard time distinguishing reality from fantasy</a> during and shortly after administration. Similarly, a 1980 study found that around 14% of patients report some <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516323/">sexual dreaming or arousal</a> while under anesthesia. It’s no surprise that together these two features of anesthesia could sometimes manifest in sexual hallucinations.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ziPDLMQaTa0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Propofol is a commonly used anesthetic.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have been rare cases in which medical professionals <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/coma-birth-woman-arisona-hacienda-healthcare-776902/">used a patient’s unconscious state</a> to commit sexual assault. For instance, in 1991, a health professional <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-6736(91)90890-2">sexually assaulted a university student</a> under anesthesia. Although the case was initially dismissed on the grounds that the patient could have had a drug-induced sexual hallucination, genetic evidence the health professional left behind later led to his conviction. It cannot be assumed that all cases of reported sexual assault under anesthesia are due to a sexual hallucination. </p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lWAD9d8AAAAJ&hl=en">pharmacology researchers</a> who recently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.2233">reviewed the medical literature</a> on sexual assault or sexual fantasy during anesthesia from the earliest documented case to February 2023, finding 87 reported cases from 17 published papers. Better understanding what triggers unpleasant or sexual dreams under anesthesia could help researchers figure out how to reduce the risk of hallucinations to keep both patients and providers safe.</p>
<h2>Reports of sexual hallucinations</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.2233">Sixteen of the individual cases</a> we found in our review involved patients reporting sexually amorous behavior or perceived sexual assault. In these cases, observers like health professionals or family members were also present during the procedure, reducing the chance that the sexual behavior actually occurred versus being hallucinated.</p>
<p>We also found a striking match between the anatomic location of the procedure and where the patient perceived inappropriate sexual contact. Procedures involving the mouth were perceived as oral sex, squeezing a ball to make a vein more accessible as squeezing a penis, chest procedures as breast fondling and groin procedures as vaginal penetration. </p>
<p>This may explain why <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2044.1988.tb05529.x">one assessment of 200 patients</a> found no cases of sexual hallucination for those undergoing gallbladder or appendix procedures involving the abdomen, but around 12% of those undergoing vaginal procedures noted amorous or sexually disinhibited behavior.</p>
<h2>Trauma for both patients and providers</h2>
<p>These anesthesia effects can have major real-world impacts on patients and providers that last long after the surgery.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.1995">emotional turmoil</a> a patient undergoes is likely the same whether actually experiencing sexual assault under anesthesia or having vivid hallucinations of the event. And practitioners too can experience distress: <a href="https://doi.org/10.14219/jada.archive.1980.0343">Some medical professionals</a> accused of real or perceived sexual assault have been brought before regulatory boards or the courts and lose their license to practice.</p>
<p>It is possible that if patients knew a hallucination of sexual assault is a rare but possible adverse effect of anesthesia before they receive it, and were aware of the steps medical providers are taking to reduce that risk, they would be less likely to believe their sexual hallucinations were real. But this would not lessen the trauma of the hallucination. In one case, an anesthesiology student <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3469766/">volunteered in a study</a> where she experienced sexual hallucination after taking sedative-hypnotics. Although she knew her vivid memories of the sexual assault weren’t real, the distress she felt over them led her to withdraw from the study.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Patient sitting on hospital bed looking out window" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527121/original/file-20230518-24-wwrsrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An experience of sexual assault can lead to significant psychological trauma.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/patient-sitting-on-hospital-bed-waiting-royalty-free-image/493991213">Portra Images/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our review of the literature, we found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcph.2233">71 individual cases</a> in which the medical professional was alone with the patient at the time of the alleged sexual assault or sexual behavior. For the safety and well-being of both patients and medical professionals, having witnesses in the room or recording devices during dental or medical procedures could help prevent an opportunity for sexual assault and reassure patients that the hallucinations they may experience are not real.</p>
<p>However, the health care system needs to go further to protect patients. Patients struggling with the trauma of hallucinated sexual assault, even if there is evidence that it did not occur in reality, should be referred to counseling and supported just like someone who was physically harmed during a medical or dental procedure.</p>
<h2>Many unknowns remain</h2>
<p>What makes some people more likely to recall their dreams while under anesthesia is unclear. A 2009 study of 97 patients receiving propofol reported that those who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/EJA.0b013e32832c500c">frequently remember their dreams</a> after anesthesia received higher doses of anesthetics, were younger than 50 years old and took longer to recover from anesthesia. A 2013 study of 200 patients receiving propofol found that men were more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e3283644b66">remember dreams after anesthesia</a> but women were more likely to remember unpleasant dreams. While dreaming and hallucinations are related experiences, people experiencing hallucinations believe they could plausibly be real.</p>
<p>While we reviewed all published cases of sexual hallucinations in the medical literature, the actual incidence of anesthesia-induced sexual hallucinations remains unknown. Given the decades that have passed since the first reported cases, more work needs to be done. Data from a very large sample size of patients will be required to understand the prevalence of sexual hallucinations under anesthesia. However, drug companies are reluctant to spend money on research that may show that their drugs cause adverse side effects.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two white pills in one hand and glass of water in the other" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527122/original/file-20230518-27-rp4r6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A number of prescription sedative-hypnotic drugs can cause hallucinations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-view-of-hands-holding-pills-and-water-royalty-free-image/1171196510">Grace Cary/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, though we limited our review to reports of sexual hallucinations during anesthesia, millions of Americans use other prescription sedative-hypnotic drugs. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370204700823">Benzodiazepines</a> like alprazolam (Xanax) and temazepam (Restoril) are used to treat anxiety and induce sleep. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs13181-013-0294-y">Z-drugs</a> like zolpidem (Ambien) and eszopiclone (Lunesta) as well as suvorexant (Belsomra) and sodium oxybate (Xyrem) are also used to induce sleep. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1213%2FANE.0000000000001417">Opioids</a> like morphine and oxycodone and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp150136">gabapentinoids</a> like gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica) are used to treat pain. <a href="https://doi.org/10.4088%2FPCC.14l01773">Muscle relaxers</a> like carisoprodol (Soma) and cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) are used for muscle spasms. All of these drugs have had reported cases of patients experiencing hallucinations while taking them.</p>
<p>In a review of the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/surveillance/questions-and-answers-fdas-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers">FDA Adverse Events Reporting System</a>, which public health officials and researchers use to monitor drug safety, 30,728 cases of “abnormal dreaming” were reported from 1974 through 2022. Most involved sedative-hypnotic drugs treating insomnia, anxiety, pain and muscle spasms. The reports do not specify the nature of these dreams, or how they affected the patient’s own perceived well-being. </p>
<p>It is important for patients to be aware that abnormal dreaming is a possibility when starting a sedative-hypnotic medication, and to inform their health professional if they experience hallucinations. These symptoms could indicate that the drug is not the right choice for you or that the dose may be too high.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sedative-hypnotic drugs can distort a patient’s perception of reality. Some patients wake up from a procedure believing they have been sexually assaulted.Melody White, Ph.D. Candidate in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of ConnecticutC. Michael White, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2051772023-05-22T11:34:49Z2023-05-22T11:34:49ZGirls are in crisis — and their mental health needs to be taken seriously<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526896/original/file-20230517-19889-9mh2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C52%2C8688%2C5722&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If we want to see improvements in the lives of girls in Canada and beyond, we need to first think critically about why we tend to dismiss and invalidate their concerns.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>An article in the <em>Washington Post</em> recently declared “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/17/teen-girls-mental-health-crisis/">a crisis in American girlhood</a>.” Girls in the United States are experiencing alarmingly higher rates of sexual assault, mental health issues and suicidality than ever before.</p>
<p>Data collected in 2021 by the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/YRBS_Data-Summary-Trends_Report2023_508.pdf">Centers for Disease Control</a> (CDC) demonstrates how dire the circumstances of American girlhood are. Fourteen per cent of teenage girls in the United States shared that they had been forced to have sex, and 60 per cent had experienced <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/13/teen-girls-violence-trauma-pandemic-cdc/">extreme feelings of sadness or hopelessness</a>. Nearly a quarter of girls had considered and planned suicide.</p>
<p>While these findings are based on U.S. data, the story is consistent with what girls in Canada have been saying for the past decade. In Canada, <a href="https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/half-of-female-students-in-ontario-experience-psychological-distress-camh-study-shows">over 50 per cent of female students in Ontario have reported</a> moderate to severe psychological distress. <a href="https://assaultcare.ca/services/sexual-assault-statistics/">One in four girls</a> has been sexually abused by the time they turn 18.</p>
<p>Suicide is the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1310039401">fourth leading cause of death</a> for girls up to 14 years old, an annual statistic that has remained relatively consistent since 2016.</p>
<p>The gendered wage gap in Canada has been found to <a href="https://www.girlguides.ca/WEB/Documents/GGC/media/thought-leadership/girlsonjob/GirlsOnTheJobRealitiesInCanada.pdf">start as early as 12 years old</a>. The situation is worse for girls who are <a href="https://www.girlsactionfoundation.ca/_files/ugd/0512fe_ccc6638a5e3844c8b3dcf4a0e536a9c2.pdf">racialized, living in poverty</a>, <a href="https://dawncanada.net/media/uploads/page_data/page-64/girls_without_barriers.pdf">disabled</a>, or <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28111592/">LGBTQ+</a>.</p>
<p>The dire state of girlhood has historically been attributed to the usual suspects: <a href="https://www.girlguides.ca/WEB/GGC/Parents/Thought_Leadership/IDG_Nationwide_Survey/GGC/Media/Thought_Leadership/IDG_Nationwide_Survey.aspx">unrealistic beauty standards</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/instagram-girls-body-image-1.6200969">pressures of social media</a>, <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/girlhood-studies/14/1/ghs140104.xml">living in a rape culture</a>, and more recently, the <a href="https://www.girlguides.ca/WEB/Documents/GGC/Girl_Research/Life_During_COVID19_Report.pdf">COVID-19 pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>In interviews conducted by the <em>Washington Post</em> with girls themselves, however, they point to another, perhaps unsuspected culprit: that when girls do speak up, they aren’t listened to or taken seriously.</p>
<h2>Why don’t we listen to or take girls seriously?</h2>
<p>I am a former community social worker with experience working directly with girls between the ages of 10 and 18 years old. My current doctoral research focuses on girls between the ages of eight and 12 years old who engage in activism, exploring ways that adults can better listen and support them when they tell us what they want for their lives and their worlds. I have heard countless stories from girls themselves about when they had felt dismissed by adults.</p>
<p>This dismissal was often directly tied to their identities as girls, attributed to claims that girls were just going through a phase, not accurately sharing what had happened or that they were being dramatic.</p>
<p>Put simply, when girls tell us what is happening in their lives, we have a tendency not to believe them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="close up image of two pairs of hands holding each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526901/original/file-20230517-11818-a2ke9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adults tend to doubt girls’ credibility as speakers because of prejudices about girls and girlhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dismissing the credibility of an entire group of people because of prejudices that we may have about their identities is what philosopher Miranda Fricker has described as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001">epistemic injustice</a>.</p>
<p>In this type of epistemic injustice, a speaker’s credibility is dismissed because of prejudices that others have based on the speaker’s identity. This means that the speaker’s testimony is not listened to or taken seriously because of who they are. </p>
<p>Adults tend to doubt girls’ credibility as speakers because of prejudices about girls and girlhood. These prejudices against girls are rooted in the construction of girlhood as a time of frivolity, fun and emotionality.</p>
<h2>Do girls just want to have fun?</h2>
<p>For a long time, girlhood — and specifically <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814787083/racial-innocence/">white, middle- and upper-class, able-bodied girlhood</a> — has been seen as a time of inherent innocence, <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/document/1109532">frivolity</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540518806954">fun</a>.</p>
<p>Constructions of girlhood are linked to expectations we have about girls as children and as gendered subjects. As children, we expect girls to have a sort of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218811484">wide-eyed wonderment</a> about the world around them. As gendered subjects, girls are additionally stereotyped in ways typically associated with womanhood, such as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0016821">emotionality</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman comforts a teenage girl sitting on a bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526897/original/file-20230517-25100-wn41e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When girls tell us what is happening in their lives, adults must listen and not dismiss them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a world that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.274">dichotomizes rationality and emotionality</a>, with rationality being considered more credible than emotionality, girls are dismissed because of the way girlhood is viewed.</p>
<p>When girls tell us what is happening in their lives, such as when they’ve experienced sexual assault or are feeling suicidal, these views become especially harmful.</p>
<p>If we want to see improvements in the lives of girls in Canada and beyond, we need to first think critically about why we tend to dismiss and invalidate their concerns. Challenging our own prejudices about the credibility of girls is a vital first step in this process.</p>
<p>When considering the crisis in girlhood, girls have been clear about the way forward. In my own community practice work, girls shared that they feel most supported by adults while “<a href="https://www.womenscentrecalgary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Girls-Lead-YYC-1.pdf">being listened to and feeling like I am being heard</a>.” In the <em>Washington Post</em> article, girls called for adults to “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/17/teen-girls-mental-health-crisis/">stop dismissing their concerns as drama</a>.”</p>
<p>Girls have never just wanted to have fun. They want — and need to be — listened to and taken seriously.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexe Bernier receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for her doctoral research. </span></em></p>In Canada, over 50 per cent of female students in Ontario have reported moderate to severe psychological distress. One in four girls has been sexually abused by the time they turn 18.Alexe Bernier, PhD Candidate, Department of Social Work, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.