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Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland CA - Priest Sexual Abuse Oakland California


Were you sexually abused as a child by a priest, deacon or any other member of the Church?  You are not aloneWe are here to help abuse survivors.  Stand up against your abuser and help prevent this from happening to someone else.  Contact Vanderhyde Law today for a free case review.  Please fill out our confidential online contact form or call Toll Free 1-866-777-2557 and an Oakland Abuse Lawyer will get back to you within 24 hours to answer any of your questions.   This is a free consultation.  Making the call is sometimes the hardest step, but it is often a necessary step on the road to healing.  Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland CA



Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland CA


History of Sexual Abuse in Religion
Sex abuse connected with boys and girls inside a religious setting is not a new problem, even if claims towards members of religious institutions have been brought into the light over the past several years. In the center of the controversy is the Roman Catholic Church, which has been under-fire regarding covering-up claims of child sex abuse for a long time within the organization. Nevertheless, although the bulk of sexual abuse instances relating to kids have revolved around the Catholic religion, additional religious doctrines are not immune to these cases.


Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland CA


There is limited information to demonstrate the degree that sex abuse takes place within religion, however claims connected with abuse stretching back decades continue to surface as awareness grows and laws are developing. Truth be told, a study from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice suggested that 4% of all United States Catholic priests between 1950 and 2002 had allegations against them for child sex abuse.


In the past, the Catholic Church has become caught up in scandal concerning cover-up of clergy members who carried out sexual abuse of children. Instead of reporting these crimes to the authorities, the Church has worked on them internally, normally resulting in the culprits being relocated to various other parishes or “sentenced” to a religious penance. These types of actions have left plenty of victims without a useful resource for legal justice, and hundreds of accused clergy members around the world still continue to have contact with little ones via religious instruction.


Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland California


The Culture of Religion and its Part in Sex Abuse


There are lots of ideas which have been documented when describing the occurrence of sex abuse inside of religious organizations. While churches as a whole ought to be held to an exceptional honorable standard, the truth of the matter is that the power structure of the Church can also be triggering the continuing sex abuse of its kids. Points that will explain the frequency of religious child sex abuse include things like:


• Unequal Power Distribution: Child sexual abuse is most likely to occur in situations where there is an abuse of power, as well as the authority of the clergy as retaining a superior moral standard plays into the manipulation of sex abuse victims.


• Opportunity: Frequently, clergy members have been in close, isolated contact with boys and girls, producing an opportunistic environment. Religious training and tutoring, youth groups, and overnight gatherings can all create a setting that allows for sex abuse.


• Immunity to Criminal prosecution: As a private organization, a church is better able to cover-up accusations of abuse within the organization. This kind of institutional setting brings about an environment where criminals could be concealed and incidents can be dealt with outside of the justice system.


• Sexual Repression: Within the Catholic religion, priests take a vow involving celibacy, which takes on a two-fold role in sexual abuse. This makes priesthood an attractive road for pedophiles who wish to stay away from their impulses, while it also brings about sexual tension in addition to repression within clergy members that will lead to the acting out of their deviant impulses.


Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland CA


Although the historic legacy of child sexual abuse within religion is appalling, quite a few
states have started taking legal action for making legislation which brings justice to these sex abuse survivors. Bills, including the Child Victims Act, can get rid of the protections that the Church has against prosecution and provide survivors a voice against their abusers.


Priest Abuse Lawyer Oakland CA