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Sexual Abuse: How Do We Protect the Children?

The flood of reports about child abuse in church-run boarding schools in German shows no signs of abating. Indeed, new accusations are surfacing almost every day. Other, non-church institutions are also involved. Politicians and the public in Germany are now debating how to improve child protection.

Politicians from across the spectrum have proposed a host of measures, including extending the statute of limitations for sex crimes, improving communications between church and civil authorities, and paying damages to the victims of child abuse. But is any of that enough? How can the wall of silence be broken? A priest now accused of abusing boys at the Ettal Catholic boarding school was known to students and parents humorously as 'the gay nudist' - showing the situation was not hushed up, but simply never taken seriously.

But does introducing stricter laws guarantee protection for children? In the US, for example, legislation known as 'Megan's Law' gives everyone the right to know whether a convicted sex offender is living in their neighborhood. Offenders' names, personal data and criminal records are posted on the Internet for everyone to see. But there is concern that the details, especially information on a criminal's place of abode, is often unreliable. Spot tests have shown that only 80 of 300 individuals checked actually lived at the address given.