Accusations of abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the claims that felt most unlike my own personal experience. My intuition led me to believe that because of the practices and beliefs of the Church, it was likely safer to be a church member than not. Was I wrong? Abuse is a deeply personal problem, and so much abuse goes unreported. I ache for anyone who has suffered abuse by anyone.

So I had to ask myself, despite my personal experience in the Church, is the Church of Jesus Christ systematically abusive? Are my children more at risk of physical or sexual abuse because of their membership in the Church?

Am I more likely to commit acts of abuse as a member of the Church? Is there something in our handbook, doctrine, rituals, or ordinances that inspires violence?

Many critics of the Church would enthusiastically answer yes to all of the above. Are they right?

A nonprofit, Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation, states that in 2015, of “3.5 million students between 8^th and 11^th grade – nearly 7 percent of those surveyed – divulged that they experienced ‘physical sexual contact from an adult’ (most often a teacher or a coach).”¹ (emphasis added) They report that 10% of children surveyed (4.5 million) reported both physical and/or non-physical types of sexual misconduct.

Additionally, student-on-student sexual assault is seven times higher than adult-on-child sexual assault.²

Those are the reports from the schools, but instances of general abuse at home are even more dire. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children’s Bureau reported that in 2020, at least 16.5% of children experienced physical abuse, and at least 9.4% were sexually abused.³

One of the real challenges of abuse is reporting. Children and youth generally do not report instances of abuse or delay their reporting months or years later.

I hate to say this is the case, but any large organization will have some levels of abuse, and the Church of Jesus Christ is no exception. Does abuse happen in the Church more often than abuse happens at home or in our schools? Or in other churches?

Most importantly, when abuse happens in the Church of Jesus Christ, is it because of the practices, beliefs, and doctrines of the Church? Or do they happen in spite of those practices, beliefs, and doctrines? Am I or my family more likely to experience abuse because of our membership in the Church? Is abuse more likely in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than membership in any other organization?

Jennifer Roach, a mental health therapist and a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, addresses these questions in a FAIR conference speech titled “Shedding Light on the Complexities: Understanding Abuse Within the LDS Church.”⁴ Jennifer grew up in another faith and is a church abuse victim herself. She admits that abuse data is incredibly challenging to collect and analyze, but she did manage to find a data set that sheds light on abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historically, the Church has comprised 30% of the Boy Scouts of America until its separation from the Boy Scouts in 2018. She reviewed thousands of cases in the Boy Scout Perversion Files going back 80 years. The files contain abuse and perversion records in the Boy Scout organization. In those reports, a line item identifies the affiliated group or church sponsoring the scout unit where the abuse happened. She found that while the Church-sponsored around 30% of the Boy Scout troops, the number of abuse cases involving LDS troops was only 5.16% of the cases. That’s 75% less abuse among Latter-day Saint troops.

Jennifer makes the poignant comment, “I mean, I know where I would put my kid.”

Why is abuse so much less likely to occur among the Latter-day Saints?

The Church handbook contains several common-sense policies to avoid and prevent abuse, such as not riding alone with a child, two-deep leadership, classrooms with windows, and youth safety training. Additionally, Jennifer Roach suggests seven unique practices in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that further protect our children and youth.⁵

1. The Calling System—The Church calls people to serve in various assignments. They do not volunteer.
2. Being Sustained—When someone is called to a new assignment, their name is presented to the congregation for a sustaining vote. If someone has concerns about a newly called leader over children and youth, they have an opportunity to raise those concerns.
3. Existing Associations—Wards and stakes are organized by geographic boundaries. A predator cannot go from church to church to find new victims.
4. Member Number System—The Church has a membership record and ID number for every member. This number follows every member, even in different countries.
5. Gender-Specific Leaders for Young Women – Men are more likely to abuse, and teenage girls are more likely to be victims of abuse than teenage boys. Direct adult leaders for girls are women.
6. Withdrawal of Membership (Excommunication) – If a member is caught abusing kids, they will be kicked out of the Church, and First Presidency approval is required for them to come back. This is not the case in other churches and organizations.
7. The Helpline—Lay church leaders around the world do not necessarily have the training and background necessary to handle cases of abuse. The Church has a hotline with trained experts who can provide information and support for the church leader and the victim.

Here is the unfortunate truth. Most child victims are abused by a parent. The National Children’s Alliance reports in 2021 that 77% of substantiated child abuse cases (sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, witness to violence, drug endangerment, and other) were perpetrated by a parent of the victim.⁶ Another 13% are perpetrated by other relatives or an unmarried partner of a parent.

Regularly scheduled semi-annual interviews with each youth by the ward’s or branch’s presiding ecclesiastical leaders have received pushback in recent years. But shouldn’t children and youth have a trusted adult to talk to if something is wrong at home? Or at school? How much abuse has been stopped or prevented through the Church’s semi-annual interview program?

It is awful that any level of abuse exists in the world. To anyone who commits heinous acts of abuse of children, “it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6). The painful reality is that our children and youth are far more likely to experience abuse at home, at school, or even in other churches than they are to experience it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That does not mean that there is nothing to do and no more progress can be made to prevent abuse. With that said, our unique practices and procedures protect victims. Will there always be some instance where a local ward or stake volunteer leader did not do enough to protect the victims? Sadly, yes. However, any shortcoming among our members and leaders is in spite of, not because of, the Church and its teachings/practices.

The following are six statements from the Church’s general handbook of instructions for church leaders regarding abuse among its church members (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint General Handbook section 38.6.2.1⁷, numbers and emphasis added):

“Church leaders and members should follow these guidelines when responding to abuse:

(1) When abuse occurs, the first and immediate responsibility of Church leaders is to help those who have been abused and to protect vulnerable persons from future abuse. Members should never be encouraged to remain in a home or situation that is abusive or unsafe.

(2) Church leaders and members should be caring, compassionate, and sensitive when working with victims and perpetrators and their families.

(3) Church leaders should never disregard a report of abuse or counsel a member not to report criminal activity to law enforcement personnel.

(4) Church leaders and members should fulfill all legal obligations to report abuse to civil authorities.

(5) Priesthood leaders should help those who have committed abuse to repent and cease their abusive behavior (see Isaiah 1:18; Doctrine and Covenants 64:7).

(6) Professional counseling may be helpful for the victims and perpetrators and their families. It is almost always advised in cases of serious abuse.”

Do critics have a better system to prevent abuse? Does it work?

The folks who claim that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is systematically abusive are not looking at the full picture. Like many other condemnations, critics are taking a strength of the Church and pretending it is a weakness. The narrative and claim that there is more sexual abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ than in other churches is unsupported by the evidence. That is the case, no matter how desperate the critics are to believe otherwise. I felt lied to by the critics who wanted to convince me that abuse is widespread and rampant in the Church.

Footnotes

1. Sand, Larry. City Journal, June 21, 2023, https://www.city-journal.org/article/sexual-abuse-in-public-schools ↩

2. “The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Schools”, The Justice Firm, February 14, 2022, https://www.justice-firm.com/blog/the-prevalence-of-child-sexual-abuse-in-schools/ ↩

3. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children’s Bureau, “Child Maltreatment 2020”, Department of Health & Suman Services USA, accessed on April 25, 2024 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/child-maltreatment-report-2020_0.pdf ↩

4. Roach, Jennifer. “Shedding Light on the Complexities: Understanding Abuse Within the LDS Church”, FAIR Latter-day Saints, August 2023, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference/august-2023-old/shedding-light-on-the-complexities-understanding-abuse-within-the-lds-church ↩

5. Roach, Jennifer. “Shedding Light on the Complexities: Understanding Abuse Within the LDS Church”, FAIR Latter-day Saints, August 2023, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference/august-2023-old/shedding-light-on-the-complexities-understanding-abuse-within-the-lds-church ↩

6. “National Statistics on Child Abuse.” National Children’s Alliance, 2022. https://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/media-room/national-statistics-on-child-abuse/ ↩

7. Or go to https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/abuse-how-to-help/preventing-and-responding-to-abuse?lang=eng ↩