#MeToo hits Vatican: Nuns speak against priests who sexually-abused them
What's the story
For decades, the Catholic Church turned a blind eye to abuse meted to nuns, but it seems to be changing.
A handful of nuns have started speaking up about being sexually abused by priests, and it was the #MeToo movement started last year that inspired them.
An Associated Press examination concluded that nuns were abused in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.
The reasons
Fed up with churches' inefficiency, nuns decided to speak up
Apart from the perversion of men in position of power, the relegation of nuns to second-class citizens of the church contributed to the abuse.
But now the nuns have found their voices and holding responsible those who harassed them.
Another reason behind going public is the inefficiency of churches to act against priests who abused nuns. However, the extent of abuse is unknown.
Stories
Nuns have started breaking years old silence against abuse
A nun confided in AP that she stopped going to confessions after a priest abused her almost two decades ago.
Separately, in Chile, a dozen nuns narrated their ordeals on television. They accused their superiors of ignoring the allegations and doing nothing about them.
Closer home, a nun alleged Jalandhar's Bishop Frank Mullakkal raped her thirteen times in two years.
The actions
But is the Vatican taking any steps? Looks like not
It is unlikely that the Vatican had no clue about the abuses in the churches, considering abuse was reported in Africa in 1990s.
An official told AP that the Vatican expects the individual churches to take action against the perpetrators.
The unnamed official added the Church focused a lot on protecting kids, but don't care about adult women who also need the same attention.
Sick practice
When nuns gets pregnant, priests pay for their abortion
The Vatican official said it was the Bishop's responsibility to take such complaints seriously. And in most cases, the seriousness of it all is challenged.
Karlijn Demasure, one of the Church's leading experts on clergy sexual abuse, said most of the times the priests say, 'she was asking for it'.
When these nuns get pregnant, they undergo abortion for which the priests pay.
History
Old study revealed priests abused nuns as prostitutes weren't 'safe'
Late Sister Maura O'Donohue surveyed 23 nations, in 1994, to shed light on abuses. She learned that 29 nuns were once impregnated in a single congregation.
She said nuns were abused by priests as they were considered 'safe'. It was feared sexual encounters with prostitutes could get them infected.
The survey was published in 2001, but sadly the Vatican hasn't addressed it till now.