Ahmedabad, April 12: Pope
Francis expressed his support and hope to eradicate child sexual abuse which he
described as “a profound evil”, in a message to participants of a virtual international
symposium, “Faith and Flourishing: Strategies for Preventing and Healing Child
Sexual Abuse (CSA).
The three
–day symposium began on April 8 where as many as 1900 people from different
countries registered to listen to 73 different speakers from around the world
and to discuss strategies to end child sexual abuse. This inaugural symposium
was organised by Harvard University in partnership with the Catholic University
of America, the World Council of Churches, World Vision and 42 other NGOs and
interfaith national and international organisations.
The
symposium is part of the effort to bring focus on CSA led by Jennifer Worthman
whose efforts are focused on seeing that April 8 is declared as a UN recognised
World Day for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse. “It’s a conference that is focused overall on
the issue of child sexual abuse and the engagement of the faith community, and
helping to prevent and heal victims who have been impacted by child sexual
abuse,” said Dr Worthman.
(Logo source: Harvard University's The Human Flourishing Program website)
The Pope in his message expressed
his trust that “by bringing together religious leaders, scholars, and
experts from various fields in order to share research, clinical and pastoral
experiences and best practices, the symposium will contribute to a greater
awareness of the gravity and extent of child sexual abuse and promote more
effective cooperation at every level of society in eradicating this profound
evil.”
The initiative to bring the focus
on child sexual abuse is spearheaded by Harvard University’s Human Flourishing
Program and has resulted in this symposium which was attended by religious leaders,
public healthcare professional, scholars, activists and experts from countries
across the globe. The organisers believe that the best way to tackle the
problem of child sexual abuse is through the collective efforts of public
heathcare professionals, faith-based leaders, experts and communities together.
US’s White House Gender Policy
Council also supported the symposium and tweeted, “In recognition of Child
Abuse Prevention Month and @April8World Day, the administration joins efforts
in calling everyone to stand against every form of child abuse and to protect all
children from sexual abuse.”
Experts from different background
and experiences shared their knowledge and best practices to identify
strategies to prevent child sexual abuse and to help in the healing process of
survivors of CSA. So scholars, professionals
and religious leaders from diverse backgrounds and faith traditions shared
their stories to encourage others who were also grappling with similar issues.
They hope to take a holistic approach to deal with physical, psychological and
spiritual trauma of the victims and to help them heal. The symposium also dealt
with the very real problem of online abuse which is only increasing as the
world is in the grip of the Covid 19 pandemic. But speaker after speaker pointed
out that child sexual abuse is itself a pandemic which needs to be dealt with
now with openness and urgency.
The inaugural of the symposium
was addressed by Child Protection advocate Queen Silvia of Sweden, Noble Peace
Prize Laureate Rev Dr Denis Mukwege, Dr Worthman and several other speakers
including India’s Dr Kezevino Aram, President of Shanti Ashram in Coimbatore.
Apart from the talks by various speakers, the
symposium had a virtual exhibition with videos, research, reports, articles,
tool kits and resources and live discussions on various topic related to child
sexual abuse over the course of