When Trust Is Broken: Understanding Child Sexual Abuse in Religious Organisations

Content note: This article discusses child sexual abuse and may be triggering for some readers.

For many children and families, religious organisations are places of community, connection, belonging and trust. They can provide children with opportunities to learn, form friendships and build relationships with adults who are seen as trusted members of their community.

But when a child is sexually abused within a religious organisation, that trust can be profoundly violated.

Child sexual abuse can occur in any community, organisation or setting. Research shows that religious organisations have been the setting for significant numbers of cases of child sexual abuse, including abuse perpetrated by religious leaders and other adults in positions of authority.

Understanding what the research tells us is an important part of preventing abuse, supporting survivors and creating safer environments for children.

What does the research tell us?

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study found that approximately one in 250 Australians surveyed (0.4%) experienced child sexual abuse by a leader or another adult in a religious organisation during childhood. Research from other countries has also identified child sexual abuse within religious organisations, demonstrating that this is not an issue confined to one country or one faith tradition.

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study found a higher prevalence of victimisation among boys than girls (0.8% compared with 0.1%), which, interestingly, differs from the broader pattern of child sexual abuse, where girls generally experience sexual abuse at higher rates than boys.

Whilst much of the research has focused on the Catholic Church, it also shows that abuse has occurred across other religious contexts and denominations. This is an important distinction: child sexual abuse is not a problem belonging to one religion. It is a child protection issue that requires vigilance and accountability across every organisation that works with or around children.

The role of authority and trust

One of the reasons abuse in religious settings can be particularly difficult for children to disclose is the relationship of trust and authority that can exist between a child and a religious leader or other adult.

Children may be taught to respect religious leaders and regard them as people who provide guidance, care and spiritual leadership. For a child experiencing abuse, this can create an enormous conflict.

The person harming them may also be someone their family trusts.

Research into grooming in religious settings has identified characteristics that can be particularly powerful in these environments. Alongside behaviours commonly associated with grooming, such as building relationships with families, giving gifts or rewards, gradually crossing boundaries and using coercion, perpetrators may exploit concepts such as obedience, authority, spirituality, family-like relationships and religious beliefs.

This exploitation of trust can make it difficult for children to recognise what is happening, particularly when the person responsible has deliberately positioned themselves as someone they should trust.

Why disclosure can be so difficult

For a child, speaking about sexual abuse is rarely easy. When the abuse occurs within a religious community, there can be additional barriers.

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard from thousands of survivors about their experiences. By 31 May 2017, 6,875 survivors had participated in private sessions with the Royal Commission, with 4,029 (58.6%) reporting child sexual abuse in religious institutions.

Survivors described fears of being rejected by their families or communities, concerns about bringing shame on their religious organisation and anxieties about how disclosure might affect their relationships and beliefs.

Some survivors also described institutional barriers, including cultures of secrecy, inadequate avenues for reporting abuse and inappropriate responses when children did speak up. The authority and status of religious leaders can make disclosure even more difficult.

These barriers matter because a child cannot be protected from abuse that adults are unwilling or unable to hear about.

Creating an environment where children know they will be listened to, believed and supported is an essential part of child safety.

What happened in Australia?

The Royal Commission’s work provided an unprecedented insight into the scale and nature of child sexual abuse within Australian religious institutions.

Of the survivors who reported abuse in religious institutions during private sessions, 61.8% reported abuse in Catholic institutions and 14.7% reported abuse in Anglican institutions. The majority of survivors were male, and the average age at which abuse first occurred was just 10.3 years.

The most commonly reported religious settings were:

• Religious schools – 39%
• Religious institutions such as orphanages, children’s homes and missions – 35.2%
• Places of worship – 24.8%

Survivors reported taking an average of 23.9 years to tell someone that they had experienced sexual abuse.

That figure is a powerful reminder that disclosure may happen years or even decades after abuse occurred.

A survivor’s silence should never be interpreted as evidence that the abuse did not happen or that it did not have a significant impact.

The scale of historical abuse

The Royal Commission also examined claims relating specifically to Catholic Church institutions in Australia.

Between 1980 and 2015, 1,880 alleged perpetrators and 4,444 victims came forward to report incidents involving Catholic Church institutions. Ninety per cent of the alleged perpetrators were male. The average age at the time of the alleged abuse was 10.5 years for girls and 11.6 years for boys, while the average time between the alleged abuse and an official complaint was approximately 33 years.

The Royal Commission’s analysis of Anglican Church institutions identified 569 alleged perpetrators and 1,085 victims who came forward with reports relating to incidents between 1980 and 2015. Ninety-four per cent of alleged perpetrators were male, and the average time between the first alleged incident and the complaint being received was approximately 29 years.

These figures relate to people who came forward and were included in the Royal Commission’s analyses. They should not be interpreted as representing the total number of people who experienced abuse.

Why prevention and accountability matter

Research into child sexual abuse in religious organisations highlights an important lesson: trust alone is not a safeguarding strategy.

Children need systems that protect them even when an adult is trusted, respected or influential.

This means organisations must have strong child safeguarding policies and practices, clear boundaries, appropriate screening and training, accessible reporting pathways and procedures that prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children.

It also means creating cultures where concerns are taken seriously and where no person is considered too important, respected or powerful to be held accountable.

Child safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Religious organisations can play a valuable role in children’s lives, but that role comes with a responsibility to ensure that children are safe, listened to and protected.

Listening to survivors

Perhaps one of the most important lessons from the research and the Royal Commission is the importance of listening to survivors.

Many survivors waited years or decades before telling someone about their experiences. Some faced significant barriers when they tried to speak up. Others may never have disclosed their abuse at all.

For people who have experienced childhood sexual abuse in a religious setting, the impact can extend beyond the abuse itself. It may affect relationships, family connections, community belonging, spirituality, trust, and a person’s sense of safety.

Survivors deserve to be heard without judgement.

They deserve access to appropriate support.

And they deserve to have their experiences taken seriously.

Building safer communities for children

Preventing child sexual abuse requires more than awareness after abuse has occurred. It requires ongoing action to create environments where abuse is harder to perpetrate, concerns are easier to raise, and children are empowered to speak up.

This includes teaching children about personal safety, body boundaries and respectful relationships in age-appropriate ways. It means giving children trusted adults they can turn to and making sure adults know how to respond when a child raises a concern.

It also means recognising that safeguarding must continue wherever children learn, worship, socialise and participate in community life.

Every child has the right to grow up safe from sexual abuse, regardless of where they live, learn, worship or belong.

By listening to survivors, learning from the research and strengthening safeguarding practices, we can work towards communities where children’s safety is always placed first.

If reading about child sexual abuse has raised concerns for you or someone you care about, support is available. Bravehearts provides information and support for children, young people, families and adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Please call 1800 272 831 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm AEST).

The article is based on Bravehearts’ Research Briefing Paper, Child sexual abuse & religious organisations. You can access this and other Briefing Papers by Bravehearts at bravehearts.org.au/media-centre/position-statements/