#MeToo: #BaptistsToo Sexual Harassment in our Baptist World

Overview Sexual Harassment A Few Stories and Statistics A definition A Few Stories and Statistics Ministers who harass, parishioners who harass, women ministers and sexual harassment Resources for Your Church Policies, Processes, Covenants, Training The BWIM-CBF Clergy Sexual Misconduct Task Force

Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a form of “sex discrimintion” prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations define sexual harassment as follows: Harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Section 703 of Title VII. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal and physical conduct of sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when Shoud we remove the words - Accidental touches - under physical contact. Abuse is not an accident.

submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

What Can Sexual Harassment Look Like in the Church? Physical Contact: Prolonged hugs, unwanted kisses, or other sexual contact. Verbal Behavior: Sexually suggestive comments or sharing inappropriate details of their marital or lack of marital relationships. Cyber Behavior: Sending inappropriate messages or photos via texts, emails, or social media.

Baptists and Sexual Assault in the Headlines Memphis Pastor Admits ‘Sexual Incident’ With High School Student 20 Years Ago (January 9, 2018) Rapist gets probation for attack on 13-year-old at Baptist church camp in Oklahoma (January 30, 2018) Church seeks information about sexual history of teen rape victim (January 31, 2018)

Baptists and #ChurchToo The victims of sexual abuse in the church were often blamed. Victims were told that it wasn’t abuse at all–it was normal. Victims were not believed. Victims were forced to apologize for being abused–to ask forgiveness from the congregation or from the perpetrator’s spouse.

Victims were told that they had a responsibility to their abuser–to help their abuser find absolution and redemption. Many of the victims were really young, but adults also were abused by church leaders. A high percentage of victims left the church, and many have never returned.

#MeToo and ChurchToo and our Sisters of Color Shining the Light of Jesus in the Darkness of #MeToo and #ChurchToo (Asian American Baptist Church, Richardson, Texas) Moving forward with #wetoo until some are ready for #metoo (Nora Lozano, Christian Latina Leadership Institute) For black women, #MeToo came centuries too late (Washington Post)

Who Does It? Clergy Parishioners 6% of self-reporting male senior pastors in Southern Baptist churches confessed to sexual contact with either current or former congregants. (Seat, Trent, & Kim, 1993) Parishioners No formal studies are known to have been done, but antidotal evidence suggests that sexual harassment is all-too present in Baptist congregations.

Who Are the Victims? Parishioners Church staff Clergywomen Clergymen

Why Does it Happen in Churches? Environmental Factors: Risk Factors: Trust in the sanctuary High levels of stress Niceness culture Little to no training about sexual harassment Ease of private communication Absence of written guidelines No oversight Ignored warning signs (Garland and Argueta, 2010)

How Often Does it Happen? Clergy sexual misconduct: 4% of women in United States who attend church regularly have had a church leader make a sexual advance toward them after the age of eighteen. On average, twelve women in a congregation of 400 members have experienced some form of clergy sexual harassment . There has been little research done on harassment by parishioners of clergywomen and clergymen.

What Now? Acknowledge that this could potentially be a problem in YOUR church! Write a Church Covenant (church expectations about sexual ethics) Write a Church Policy (how to prevent) Construct a Church Process (what to do if it happens) Provide annual training for clergy, lay members, volunteer leaders on topics such as: The “How” and “What” of Sexual Harassment Establishing Healthy Boundaries Appropriate Actions and Interactions between Adults in the Church

The Work of the BWIM-CBF Clergy Sexual Misconduct Task Force Workshops in June Baptist Women in Ministry will host “#metoo: Join the Movement, Be the Change” The Clergy Sexual Misconduct Task Force will host “#churchtoo: Resourcing Your Congregation on the Issue of Clergy Sexual Abuse,” will preview a new resource for churches titled “Safe Churches and Ministers.”

Covenants Policies Processes Blogs Small Group Discussion Resource

Resources Baptist Women in Ministry’s Clergy Sexual Misconduct Resources http://bwim.info/clergy-sexual-misconduct-taskforce/ Baylor University’s Clergy Misconduct Research http://www.baylor.edu/clergysexualmisconduct/ Faith Trust Institute http://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/resources/learn-the-basics/ce-faqs The Hope of Survivors http://www.thehopeofsurvivors.com/