The Scope of Religious Related Child Sexual Abuse in Spain: A Prevalence Study

Research on the prevalence of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has been limited in Europe. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and characteristics of religious-related sexual abuse in a broad sample of the Spanish population, placing it within the broader context of sexual violence against children and adolescents.

Among the survey respondents, 52.3% were women (n = 4,188) and 47.7% were men (n = 3,825). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 100 years (M = 51.5, SD = 17.6), with the majority (n = 7,154; 89.5%) born in Spain.

The results indicated that 11.7% of respondents were victims of child sexual abuse, with a higher prevalence among women (8.6%) compared to men (3.1%). A total of 1.1% of respondents reported having experienced religious-related sexual abuse, primarily in religious educational institutions or churches, with 0.6% identifying a Catholic clergyman as the perpetrator. The majority of ecclesiastical abuse involved physical contact, and in many cases, the abuse was recurrent. Victims of religious-related abuse reported more significant spiritual consequences compared to those abused in other contexts.

The findings highlight patterns of sexual abuse similar to those observed in other countries, with a notable prevalence of abuse in male Catholic schools during the Franco dictatorship era.