Australia--UN committee prods Australian government on sex crimes
For immediate release Friday, November 28
Statement by Nicky Davis, SNAP Australia Director, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, +61 422 538 440, [email protected]
UN Committee prods Australian government on sex crimes
Victims’ group applauds UN Committee
For decades, Australian society has looked the other way while many thousands of innocent children suffered in terrified silence, not just for an entire childhood, but often an entire lifetime.
Now that the UN Committee Against Torture is focusing on this issue, Australian survivors finally have real hope for real change.
The recommendations give a clear direction to the Australian Government that the current Royal Commission must be properly supported in order to do its job.
The Committee highlights Australia’s obligations under the Convention and points that it will not be met by an inquiry which is only allowed to investigate partial evidence referring to Cardinal Pell’s refusal to turn over evidence to the Royal Commission.
While victims are grateful for the work the Royal Commission has accomplished so far this report provides new hope as it underscores that allegations are to be “… promptly, impartially, thoroughly and effectively investigated and perpetrators brought to justice and, if found responsible, punished in accordance with the gravity of their acts.”
It also highlights that survivors are entitled to not only full justice but redress, too.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected]) Nicky Davis, SNAP Australia Leader, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, +61 422 538 440, [email protected], Peter Isely (414-429-7259, [email protected]) Mary Caplan (917-439-4187 [email protected] )
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