The Quebrar o Silêncio association, which supports men who are victims of sexual abuse, has received five requests for help from victims of the Catholic Church in the last three days, pointing out that the news is leaving victims in crisis.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the president of the association revealed that, since the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuses in the Catholic Church in Portugal publicly released its final report on Monday, several victims have contacted the association.
«Only in these three days we received five cases related to sexual abuse in the Church», all men over 50 years old, revealed Angelo Fernandes.
According to the official, some of these men had already contacted the Independent Commission itself, and all "are in crisis" because of the testimonies they heard and the news they read, having contacted Quebrar o Silêncio in search of psychological support and help to manage «what they feel about abuse».
«When the person is in crisis, what we do is provide emotional stabilization so that these men can, at least, feel some form of relief, before starting psychological support», explained Ângelo Fernandes.
According to the president of Quebrar o Silêncio, “this week has been particularly intense for men who were victims of sexual violence in childhood”.
“We have had reports of men who cannot rest because they are constantly confronted with these reports of sexual abuse”, he added, adding that this affects both male victims of sexual abuse in the Church and in other contexts.
Ângelo Fernandes pointed out that, for many of these people, contact with the most recent news about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church obliges them to “constantly relive their own stories”.
“This is very difficult for these men to manage. We have seen men who end up suffering from increased thoughts about abuse, unwanted memories, anxiety reaches very high levels», he pointed out, underlining that this week has been particularly painful for survivors.
In this sense, the official left the appeal for the contacts of the three associations specialized in supporting victims of sexual violence to be added to the news, such as Quebrar o Silêncio (910 846 589/[email protected]), the Association of Women against Violence (213 802 165/[email protected]) or UMAR (914 736 078 / [email protected]).
In the opinion of Ângelo Fernandes, the moment is opportune to return to discussing the increase in the limitation period for this type of crimes, remembering that already in 2021 the association had collaborated in the drafting of a bill that extended the period for victims of abuse sexual intercourse in childhood can file a complaint for 15 years after the victim turns 35, that is, up to the age of 50.
Currently, in Portugal, victims of sexual crimes against children can only file a complaint up to five years after turning 18, that is, up to the age of 23, a period that Quebrar o Silêncio considers insufficient due to the fact that «most people sexually abused children take more than 20 or 30 years to share their history of abuse».
The Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Catholic Church suggested on Monday that the deadline for victims to file a complaint regarding abuse suffered in childhood be extended to 30 years of age.
The report by the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse in the Church received 512 validated testimonies, which allowed the extrapolation to the existence of at least 4.815 victims, with 25 cases having been sent to the Public Ministry.
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