Institutional Dutch Catholic abuse 'affected thousands'

[ via BBC Europe ] 16 Dec

Tens of thousands of children have suffered sexual abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions since 1945, a report says.

The report by an independent commission said Catholic officials had failed to tackle the widespread abuse at schools, seminaries and orphanages.

But the report also found that one in five children who attended an institution suffered abuse - regardless of whether it was Catholic.

Most of the cases involved mild to moderate abuse, such as touching, but the report estimated there were "several thousand" instances of rape.

Posted in: Catholic Abuse, Rape, Sexual Abuse, Survey Report