IN-SERVICE TRAINING (ISTC) – WA

The workshop was held on the 6^th September, 2014 in In-Service Training Center (ISTC), Wa. It was facilitated by Rev. Fr. Dr. Benjamin Nuru Fiiriter, a Diocesan priest of the Catholic Diocese of Wa. In the opening remarks to the program, the Vice Provincial Superior, Bro. Patrick Binneh stated that the workshop was organised to carry out a policy requirement of the congregation. He noted further that sexuality and its attendant problems is a global human issue that knows no bounds, hence, religious and the clergy have not been spared.

Bro. Patrick underscored the essence of the workshop to include awareness creation among brothers and their co-workers of the consequences of sexual abuse between majors and minors (adults and juveniles). The content of the talk in the workshop was extended to cover:General Introduction; Definition of Terms; Historical Background; Forms of Child Sexual Abuse; Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on victims, perpetrators and the community,Avoiding sexual abuse of minors; Detecting sexual abuse of minors; Procedures to be observed in Child Sexual Abuse in accordance with national legislation; General Observation and Conclusion

In his introduction, the facilitator stated that Child sexual abuse is a broad umbrella term describing criminal and civil offenses in which an adult engages in sexual activity with a minor or exploits a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification. Since children cannot consent to sexual activity, any sexual involvement with a child can never be considered normal or socially acceptable encounter. Child sexual abuse can occur in a variety of settings: in the home, school, or work, wherever children are present. Rev Fr. Dr. Bengave a historical background to sexual abuse and discussed the various terms and forms of sexual abuse and their effects on the victim. His presentation was both scholarly and global, citing several examples of sexual abuse which brought shame and financial burden on religious congregations and presbyteries particularly in the western world.Child sexual abuse has become the object of significant public attention in recent times. Since the 1970’^s the sexual abuse of children and child molestation has increasingly been recognized as deeply damaging to children and thus unacceptable for society as a whole.

Fr. Benjamin recalled that in the United States growing awareness of child sexual abuse has sparked an increasing number of civil lawsuits for monetary damages stemming from such incidents. Increased awareness of child sexual abuse has encouraged more victims to come forward, whereas in the past victims often kept their abuse secret. Some states have enacted specific laws lengthening the applicable statutes of limitations so as to allow victims of child sexual abuse to file suit sometimes years after they have reached the age of majority. Such lawsuits can be brought where a person or entity, such as a school, church or youth organization, was charged with supervising the child but failed to do so with child sexual abuse resulting. Within the Catholic Church, sex abuse cases in the various Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States have paid out huge sums of moneys in settling hundreds of such lawsuits since the early 1990s. It is in the light of this that due diligence is called for from priests and religious in the discharge of their duties so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past.