Several representatives from social and religious groups called for an open attitude from all religions to practically handle religion-related sexual violence cases.
The Garden of Hope Foundation yesterday held a seminar on religion-related sexual violence, inviting representatives from the government and the legal profession as well as Buddhist, Christian and Catholic groups to discuss ways to handle sexual violence within the religious groups.
The foundation pointed out that within religious groups the preachers and their followers often are not equals.
Preachers could therefore use the belief system and their teachings as an excuse to violate their followers, who have been conditioned to believe what preachers say was correct.
"With religious conditioning, the victims' fear of repeated trauma and the mysterious aura surrounding religions, sexual crimes within a religious group are not easily discovered," said Chi Hui-jung, the foundation's CEO.
"A lot of times, when the victims told us what happened to them, they did not even think the preacher's behavior was wrong. This could be due to religious conditioning," said Lin Yung-sung (
Lin also said it is always difficult for a victim to keep pursuing a case, a lawsuit can drag on for years if numerous appeals are lodged.
And with the frenzy usually created by the media when dealing with these cases, the pressure on the victim is huge.
"But a religion can only be counted as a real religion if it can bravely face the problem of sexual violence. What really matters is not whether the religious group provides a channel for its followers to report such cases, but whether it is willing to handle the cases properly," he said.
Shih Chao-hui (
"The key point is whether the people in charge of such cases within the religious groups are willing to tackle them or not. But we would always ask whether the accusers have evidence. Otherwise, if we publicize the cases without evidence, we may get sued for defamation," Shih said.
When the idea was raised that secular law could intervene in the religious field, most representatives said it was not viable since religious groups guard their autonomy jealously.
It was more feasible for the groups to regulate themselves, although this was a difficult target to achieve, the representatives said.
While the discussion was animated, the representatives avoided confronting specific cases in detail.
"I have not heard of such cases within the local Catholic group, although I dare not say there is none.
"Often the victims' rights are sacrificed because they are afraid the revelation of such cases would damage the religion they love, and they simply would not come out to accuse the wrongdoer," Sister Yeh Pao-kuei (
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