5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW REGARDING SEXUAL ABUSE THIS WEEK.
OPINION/NEWS/BLOG/LEGAL EASE
Los Angeles (The Karney Report)— WHILE NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL BURNS SO DO THE VICTIMS OF CHURCH SEX ABUSE
Here is the story that broke this week-for survivors—for all of us—for those who love and support survivors.
1. Are Victims of Church Child Sex Abuse as Sacred as Notre Dame Cathedral?
Notre Dame Cathedral Fire!
“But there’s money to help rebuild a billionaire fraternity of child molester-enabler’s built up old church.” @SarahKSilverman
And this got me burning…
Key
Points
- Notre Dame cathedral’s burning was accidental; clergy sex abuse is intentional. Priests, clergy and their enablers are part of a ‘billionaire fraternity of child molester-enabler’s’ and should be treated as so.
- And while we grieved the sight of flames licking at the iconic spires, historical treasures, cultural, and religious symbols of Christian Europe’s Notre Dame cathedral, we grieve more for the living survivors of clergy sex abuse. We mourn all sexual assault, violence, harassment, and rape.
- Less than 24 hours after the blaze tore through Notre Dame Cathedral, donors raised hundreds of million now $1 billion to aid in restoration efforts. Charity for the Paris cathedral would have been better spent on compensating child victims of church sex abuse. Are our children not as sacred?
- The good news: A crowdfunding campaign for three African American churches in Louisiana recently gutted by arson was climbing Tuesday after social media posts urging the public not to forget the plight of the small house of worship as the eyes of the word were on the fire-ravaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
- Most victims of child sex abuse have no legal rights because their statute of limitations (time to sue or file a police report) has run out. They are forever barred from justice. Perpetrators count on it and therefore abuse the youngest child available to them. Most child sex abuse happens to children under the age of 6.
- We ask you not to forget the plight of survivors of child sexual abuse, sexual assault, harassment, and rape. We ask that you write to your U.S. Senator and Congressperson to support The Civil Rights Act for Victims of Sexual Violence (“CRAVSV”).
- We ask that you donate even $1.00 for victims of child sex abuse. www.roara1.org. (The cost of an item at The .99 Cents Only Store).
Legal Ease
Legal Ease
What is a Statute of Limitations?
The Statutes of limitations is the time period that your abuser can be held legally responsible for what he did to you.
Two Types of Actions Can be Filed:
Civil and Criminal Actions
What Does it Mean to File a Criminal Case: This is where you file a police report, and the city, state or county decides to prosecute your alleged abuser on your behalf. They represent the city, state, county against your perpetrator. The punishment, if your abuser is found guilty of the crime charged, can range from prison time to community service and/or fines.
What Is a Criminal Statute of Limitations:
This is the time period that the State, City or County can file an action on your behalf against your alleged perpetrator for the crimes he committed against you.
What Does it Mean to File a Civil Case:
This is where you go to a personal injury attorney or law firm to sue your sex abuser or the institutions (e.g., Church), third party (e.g., Boy Scouts), for money to compensate you for the damage the sex abuse caused.
What is a Civil Statute of Limitations:
This is the time period that you have, established by your state law, to file a personal lawsuit against your abuser or the institutions or third parties that enabled your perpetrator. This is to compensate you for personal injury. (Example of other personal injury cases are actions for car accidents, slip and falls, nursing home abuse, medical malpractice cases where a doctor or medical device injures you.)
What is the Average Age Victims of Child Sex Abuse Remember the Abuse, Realize the Damages the Abuse Caused Them, or Disclose the Abuse:
The average age victims of child sex abuse disclose their abuse as adults is age 52. The median age of adult disclosure is 48. (Only 25% of victims disclose the sex abuse in childhood and the same number never do.) The reasons for delay are specific to each victim, but often involve incapacities that result from trauma (e.g., depression, substance abuse, alcoholism, PTSD, poverty). When victims do disclose to institutions, studies reveal callous disregard for the welfare of children.
Victims of Sex Abuse are Denied Justice
In all 50 states in the US today, both the civil and criminal statutes of limitations block victims of sex abuse from ever getting justice. The time limitations run well before the victims 48th birthday. While the Statute of Limitations block justice for the victims they simultaneously protect the perpetrators and institutions.
We argue that the Statute of Limitations should be done away with for victims of child sex abuse. The deadlines are patently unfair to victims and enable and encourage perpetrators.
Note: Only Guam has eliminated the time limitations for suing individuals and institutions backwards and forwards for survivors of child sex abuse.
We argue, for a public outcry and billions of dollars in donations for survivors of sexual violence:
I wept with the World over Notre Dame. Chills ran down my spine watching the spires burn and tumble to the ground like Tinkertoys. I’ve been to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I grieve with the world, with Christian Europe, and with the people of France. A national treasure consumed by orange flames and billowing smoke.
But I also burned with fury over the children, shrieking in pain from being sodomized, assaulted, and raped by the billionaire fraternity of child molesters and their enablers of priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes. And I wept for the victims of incest, from fathers, brothers, stepfathers, grandfathers, cousins, uncles, close family friends. And chills run down my spine for the survivors of marital rape, workplace sexual assault, for college students assaulted daily on campus for the fresh faced and innocent, for the middle-aged and still silent—for all of us.
Yet, where is the public outrage, the money flow, the surge of givers, grievers, donors, and supporters. Where is the Congress, where is the legislative effort to give all victims of sexual violence the civil right to be free of sexual violence long deserved and too long deprived. Your body…your civil right.
If you grieve Notre Dam as we do, if you donate to Notre Dame’s rebuilding, if you give to your house of worship, please mourn the children molested and sexually enslaved by institutions like the Church, incested by family members, raped by coaches, teachers, foster parents. Empathize and support civil rights for sexually assaulted employees, workers, colleagues, and anyone trying to put food on the table suffering sex assault at work, weep for college students raped and assaulted on university campuses.
Let your heart go out to all survivors who burn daily, living in shame, grief, and pain. Let us remember that we (you, me, all of us) are the only ones who can make a difference, demand justice, bring compassion to victims, and hold perpetrators legally and morally accountable. To do so, we must eliminate all statutes of limitations for sexual violence.
- We ask that you donate even $1.00 for victims of child sex abuse. www.roara1.org. (The cost of an item at The .99 Cents Only Store).
- We ask you not to forget the plight of survivors of child sexual abuse, sexual assault, harassment, and rape. We ask that you write to your U.S. Senator and Congressperson to support The Civil Rights Act for Victims of Sexual Violence (“CRAVSV”).
My prayer and life’s mission is that some good will come out of it.
From pain to purpose.
Shari Karney, Attorney and Founder of ROAR as ONE, a non-profit organization focusing on the rights of action for survivors of all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
Shari Karney, Attorney, survivor, legal analyst.
“From pain to purpose. Being sexually abused at such an early age was the scar on my soul. But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today. I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I went through to be here. But now it’s time to take action to save the next generation of women and children from what we went through. Shari Karney, Esq. Author of an upcoming memoir, “Despite It All—A Story of Pain to Purpose.”
Please support survivors and Roar as One (www.roaras1.org). Our mission is pursuing justice for survivors of sexual assault and violence.
We need to come together, speak up, stand up, rise now. ACT AS ONE. ROAR AS ONE.
Rise
Organize
Act
Restore
We must recognize and enact laws that protect the basic human right to be free of sexual assault and sexual violence. Enact nationwide Federal Civil Rights Legislation for victims of sexual abuse, rape, child sexual abuse. Join our Civil Rights Movement to get legal rights and recognition of sexual violence as a violation of human civil rights. Help us remove the Statute of Limitations nationwide for sexual assault, sexual abuse, and continuous child sexual abuse, in both civil and criminal courts. Allow survivors and sexual violence victims to file in Federal court.
©Legal Education Unlimited, Inc. (This is a publication of Legal Education Unlimited, Inc.)