Women Victims of Sexual Misconduct in Churches

A national survey shows more than a quarter of Christian women personally have experienced sexually inappropriate behavior, and one-fourth who experienced it said it happened in a church or ministry setting. Not all incidents reported fall under the legal definition of sexual harassment. The simple legal definition of sexual harassment is "unwelcome attention due to one's gender." Fifty-three percent who have experienced inappropriate behavior say they do not plan to report these instances to avoid stirring up controversy. Frank Sommerville, nonprofit attorney and CPA, says churches need to recognize sexually inappropriate behavior can and does occur in churches, and policies must be established to prevent and respond to instances of misconduct. "Juries tend to award larger damages to victims of sexual harassment within churches because they think a church should be a safe place. Churches ignore this topic at their peril," says Sommerville. To learn more about the NationalChristianPoll.com survey results and resources on preventing sexual misconduct, visit yourchurch.net and giftedforleadership.com.
[HT: christiannewswire.com]

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My thoughts:
More than 25%?!?! Yikes, we really need to give this some thought and attention as Christians. Men need to step up to the plate and keep their hands off, comments in check, and hold others accountable. There is no place for this behavior, especially NOT THE CHURCH!

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