Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment

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Since then, the Fraser guidelines still apply to advice and treatment about contraception and sexual health. Citing New Testament passages that instruct wives to submit to their husbands, Pearl advocates a system in which godly wives live as complete subordinates to their husbands, with no “equal rights. Heimlich suggests that the problems are especially acute within “religious authoritarian” communities, which are characterised by a strict hierarchical social structure, a theology based on fear, and a desire to keep themselves separate from wider society. If the majority of Americans hold these beliefs, then many of these places are powder kegs of abuse waiting to explode.

Other potential negative effects, note the authors, include the promotion of religiously sanctioned prejudice, hatred, and violence, including homophobia. In Scotland, if a pupil turns 16 between 1 March and 30 September they can leave school after 31 May of that year. One of the most disturbing parts of the book is a woman's testimony about how she has never felt sexual desire. Breaking Their Will is heartbreaking, as she tells the stories of victims who have suffered at the hands of the pious.In a concluding chapter, Heimlich raises questions about children’s rights and proposes changes in societal attitudes and improved legislation to protect children from harm. S. courts and prosecutors are far too obliging to those parents who claim that "God told them" to chastise, punish, mutilate, starve, isolate, humiliate, denigrate, ---and even kill their own children. Sometimes, families who seem to have it all from the outside are hiding a different story behind closed doors. The NSPCC, which has experienced a huge surge in demand for its services in the wake of the Savile investigation, is also expanding its work in response to the increased awareness of child abuse.

Rather than honoring children as important members of society, theology has largely given children short shrift.If you've been told over and over again as a child that you are stupid or no good, it is very difficult to overcome these core feelings.

After speaking with dozens of victims, perpetrators, and experts, and reviewing a myriad of court cases and studies, the author explains how religious child maltreatment happens. Internet companies must also be persuaded to police themselves, so that when a new product or service is developed that is likely to be used by children and young people, it has a safety check to ensure it cannot be misappropriated by an abuser. The warning signs that a child is being abused or neglected can vary according to the type of abuse inflicted.Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority went to the House of Lords and is often used as a legal precedent across the UK.

When talking with an abused child, the best way to encourage them is to show calm reassurance and unconditional support. Adolescents who come out as gay or lesbian may encounter their religious communities' censure, and/or violence from peers who have been taught that homosexuality is a sin. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.For as long as humans have worshipped deities, we have been abusing and neglecting children in the name of faith. While Breaking Their Will largely focusses on the United States, the recent killing in London of a young child accused of witchcraft reminds us that there is no cause for complacency here. Parenting can be a very time-intensive, stressful job, especially if you're raising children without support from family and friends, or you're dealing with relationship problems or financial difficulties. I think it's important to speak bluntly and directly about this because the Pearl books remain inexplicably popular within many evangelical churches, but their teachings are incredibly damaging. The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to.