Promotion and defense of children?s rights and dignity
The Marist Brothers have been working in promoting and defending children’s rights and dignity for some time, so we are strongly committed to the fight against sexual abuse of minors.
The Marist Institute has been addressing the issue and setting up international teams and own protocols and prevention action against abuses since 2011, in all countries where it is present.
Marist educational centres were the first institutions that developed protocols in Catalonia that enabled to promote a culture of preventing, detecting and eradicating child sexual abuse and other risky situations.
Thanks to these protocols, and other existing standards, we have been proactive in denouncing situations that have been detected in recent years.
We have always been close to the families and their needs, always respecting their decisions.
Any time we have heard of an abuse case at any of our centres, we have acted asking for forgiveness and offering support to the family, condemning and denouncing the facts.
The Marist Brothers of Catalonia formed a team in April that offers care for victims of sexual abuse cases prescribed by the court.
It is an offer directed to all people who have experienced situations of sexual abuse at one of our centers.
With the launch of this team’s activity, we want to reiterate our determination to stand by the victims, especially when justice can no longer take place due to the prescription of crimes.
The aim of the intervention is to know the current situation of each victim and make proposals to the Marist Institute to facilitate healing by repairing the damage.
The initial intervention includes welcoming, listening and responding to the needs of each victim, derived both from the experience and the frustration that results from the legal prescription. For this reason, the basic care team includes a lawyer and a psychologist.
The professionals of the core team are: Xavier Puigdollers (coordinator), a lawyer and president of the Section of Child and Adolescent of Barcelona’s College of Lawyers (…).
Maria Dolors Petitbò, clinical psychologist and a founding member of the Functional Unit of Attention to child sexual abuse (UFAM) of the Hospital Sant Joan de Deu in Barcelona (…).
This core team is complemented by interventions from other competent professionals in various fields, according to the needs of those admitted. The care team has established a contact network for all victims who are known to have legal prescription.
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Fundació Champagnat – Maristes Catalunya
Barcelona, 8 April 2016
Read more in Spanish
Siete artículos publicados en Catalunya Cristiana sobre los abusos – H. Lluís Serra Llansana – PDF