Abstract
Sexual violence against children remains aglobal public health problem. The health sector has an opportunity and responsibility to be part of the multisector collaboration to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of minors. The following article presents acritical analysis of hitherto published empirical studies that examine the extent and variety of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions. The analysis consists of 40studies concerning the Catholic Church and 13studies concerning other institutions not belonging to the Catholic Church. We report the characteristics of the offenders and the offenses. Furthermore, the devastating consequences for children abused by members of powerful institutions are discussed. Knowledge on the role of institutions in sexual abuse of minors and psychological distress following these experiences is necessary to point the way to improvements in prevention and intervention strategies. This literature review is part of alarger research project on the sexual abuse of minors in the context of the Catholic Church in Germany (MHG Study) that is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, and sociologists and is funded by the German Bishops' Conference.
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