Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Forum
Realize the risk
How to assess your church ' s child sexual abuse risk points — and how to do ( much ) better
In many churches , leaders think child sexual abuse " can ' t happen here ." What ' s the reality ?
Guy A . Russ : Any organization that serves children must understand the statistics : A study of convicted male abusers revealed that those targeting girls averaged 52 victims , while those targeting boys averaged 150 victims . Unfortunately , only 38 % of children that have been abused ever report it . Of those who do , about 90 % are abused by someone they or their families know . * ** On the claims side , we get at least one call a day about suspected abuse or an allegation of abuse . Churches generally rely on volunteers — and it seems like there are never enough . This , coupled with a high degree of trust , make churches especially vulnerable .
Finally , most religious organizations allocate their financial resources to their core ministry , not necessarily risk management . So , risks like this can fall off the radar . It ’ s also important to realize that this type of abuse can happen online — and cross over into the physical world — so mechanisms need to be in place regarding cyberspace , as well .
Can a church assess the ' risk ' or ' likelihood ' of a child sexual abuse allegation occurring on its campus ?
Russ : Yes . In fact , we
have a number of tools on our website that are free and available to anyone , not just policyholders . Those resources help churches look at their policies and procedures — what do they have in place ? And more important , are those really being followed ? They help assess decision-makers — do they understand how to screen for and recognize the behaviors of a sexual abuser ? This is especially important since , as I mentioned , most abusers are familiar to the victim . Finally , these resources help church leaders judge the oversight and monitoring of their safety systems around this risk . Can church leaders actually see what ' s happening in their organization , and sustain it in terms of preventative action ?
In the MinistrySafe article , it states that ministry leaders tend to gravitate to the easiest and least expensive guidelines and practices . Has this been your experience ?
Russ : Unfortunately , yes . And doing so leaves “ holes ” that abusers become very good at recognizing quickly . All the more reason to put in a multilayered approach — multiple barriers of protection that include things like screening appropriately and asking questions meant to elicit high-risk responses and signal abusive behaviors . Doing background checks is only a minimum standard for what needs to be done .
Additionally , church leaders must be sure the two-adult rule is in place so that no child is left alone with a single adult ; supervision practices are up to speed ; adults interacting with children — and children interacting with each other — are supervised ; and that everyone knows how to report suspicious activity ( and that the church immediately follows up with any report , including notifying the church ’ s insurance carrier ). The carrier is there to help ; we have resources to assist in these situations . Once all these layers are in place , comprehensive and repeated training must be done .
How can a church know it ’ s insured as fully as possible with regard to child sexual abuse allegations and claims ?
Russ : Having product and claims experience at the carrier level is very , very important when vetting carriers . What types of products does the carrier bring to the table specifically related to these risks ? We were on the forefront of this at Church Mutual , offering a separate sexual misconduct coverage back in the mid-1980s , for churches . Prior to that , these claims fell under the language of a ‘ general liability policy ’ that was relatively vague , and didn ' t provide enough specificity as to how the insurance company would act when an allegation or an incident occurred . Also , ask how many sexual abuse or sexual misconduct claims the carrier has defended , and what it has learned from the results . How has it incorporated those learnings into its processes and products ?
What advice can you offer a church seeking to align itself with a knowledgeable insurance agent ?
Russ : Again , this goes back to product and claims experience . How many organizations similar to yours does that agent deal with ? How many situations has he or she been involved in around sexual abuse of children ? The agent needs to be able to advise on coverages and on the appropriate next steps should an allegation of abuse arise .
You ’ re quoted in the MinistrySafe article as saying , "[ O ] f course , it ’ s far better to prevent sexual misconduct and abuse before it occurs .” What resources can you offer to help church leaders do just that ?
Russ : First , we have risk control consultants across the country who will work directly with policyholders and church leaders to understand and assess their risks . Again , abusers can use very insidious behaviors , so our risk control consultants are well-trained in identifying blind spots in overall safety systems . As I mentioned before , we also have many resources on our website , including
10 Essentials of Sexual Abuse Prevention and a downloadable Sexual
Abuse Prevention Assessment , which is especially helpful during COVID-19 if one of our risk control consultants can ’ t come help in person . Those resources are
available at churchmutual . com / abuse . We have also partnered very closely with Gregory Love , Kimberlee Norris and MinistrySafe , so Church Mutual policyholders get a nice discount on those tools . We ' re thankful for that partnership , because MinistrySafe does a very good job of preparing policyholders to reduce this risk .
— Reporting by RaeAnn Slaybaugh
* Finkelhor , D . ( 2012 ). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles . Durham , NH : Crimes against Children Research Center . ** Whealin , J . ( 2007-05-22 ). “ Child Sexual Abuse ”. National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , US Department of Veterans Affairs .
1
Church Mutual is a stock insurer whose policyholders are members of the parent mutual holding company formed on 1 / 1 / 20 . S . I . = a stock insurer .
8 CHURCH EXECUTIVE churchexecutive . com