Church Leader Training Material: Sexual Harassment and Abuse Prevention
As part of a ministry team’s training, sexual abuse and sexual harassment in the church context should be covered. The following resource can be a launching point for this training and can be adapted for your church.
We hope that this guide is helpful. Please feel free to take it and adapt it in any way.
Definitions
Sexual abuse is:
Any unwanted sexual contact, which could include (but isn’t limited to)
Sexually suggestive language
Display of pornography
Sexual assault
Sexual activity with children (anyone under 18)
Sexual activity between two persons without meaningful consent.
Sexual harassment is any unwanted comment, gesture, or action that is sexual in nature.
This could include, but isn’t limited to:
Sexual jokes
Comments about appearance, love life, body, clothing, sexual orientation or gender identity
Name calling of a sexual nature
Stalking, cornering
Touching of non-sexual body parts like hand holding, placing a hand on the back, massaging shoulders
Repeatedly asking someone to go on a date
Unwelcome, meaning a reasonable person would know that it is inappropriate, OR the person has indicated previously that they don’t want it.
The recipient is the one to decide what is unwelcome.
For a person in a leadership position or role of power within an organization, the definition of sexual abuse expands to include all advances of a sexual nature, regardless of whether consent was given. This is both a legal reality and a reflection of the heightened duty of care that the Church has to those we serve.
Church leaders (both paid and volunteer) have power over others within the church. These types of power could relate to:
A role or position of influence
Intellectual, psychological, spiritual power
Social power (such as connections or community)
Life circumstances (stability, resources, security)
Physical power
Familiarity with tradition, systems, or processes
Gender, age, race, sexual orientation
It is a church leader’s duty to recognize that meaningful consent may be absent in certain relationships that you are part of. Sexual activity without meaningful consent is abuse.
Consider the relative positions of a home church leader and a new member of the home church. The home church leader has social power due to their role within the group, and has the power to deny benefits (like participation in the home church) to the new member. As such, no meaningful consent can be given by the new member of the group, even if the new member were to initiate sexual activity.
It is important for all leaders to be aware of the traits of potential abusers.
Abusers can be:
Controlling, dominating, manipulative
Sensitive, talented, inspirational, have charisma
Limited self awareness
Limited impulse control or awareness of the consequences of their actions
Limited awareness of boundaries, or of their own power
Limited recognition of their own sexual feelings
Have poor judgment
Abusers will often:
Seek vulnerable people
Attract vulnerable people
Be secretive (or look for environments where abuse is possible)
Minimize, deny, rationalize, blame others
We all have a responsibility to minimize the risk of abuse through compliance with the Leading With Care policy (or other abuse prevention policies). We also create an environment where secrecy is difficult by installing windows in all doors, having two unrelated adults present, and training all leaders and volunteers on signs of abuse and the proper ways to report abusive behaviour.
How do I report an incident of
sexual abuse or harassment?
Contact an appropriate ministry overseer (put contact information here)
Complete an incident report form and submit it.
Any instance or suspicion of sexual harassment or abuse involving a minor must be reported to relevant authorities: Toronto Police or CAS
(Police and CAS work together, so either will escalate a report to the other as needed).