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Six percent of Roman Catholic seminarians say they have personally experienced some form of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct at their institution, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life. Eighty-eight percent of seminarians say they have not experienced sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, while 4 percent say they may have experienced it but are not sure.
Of the 10 percent of seminarians who report a possible incident of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, 80 percent identify the perpetrator or perpetrators as a fellow seminary student or religious trainee. Twenty percent say it was a seminary authority, such as a faculty member or administrator, and 16 percent say it was a church authority not directly connected to the seminary (respondents were instructed to check all that applied).
Eighty-four percent of seminary students say they believe their administrators and faculty take allegations of misconduct “very seriously.” Fifty-nine percent say they are “very aware” of their institution’s policies on sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct.
The study is based on what the Notre Dame researchers describe as a first-of-its-kind national survey of seminarians. A total of 2,375 seminarians were invited to participate in the study, which received 1,544 valid responses for a 65 percent response rate.
