COLLINS: Is money the best form of justice in sexual abuse cases?

Mar 17, 2023 | 5:29 AM

CASH SETTLEMENTS PAID OUT TO VICTIMS of sex crimes don’t solve the real issue. Proper justice for those who are harmed. That needs to change.

Often, to make a crime go away, individuals and companies wind up settling with the victims by offering a cash settlement. That settlement often comes with a non-disclosure agreement that prevents the name of the offender from being disclosed.

A recent report in Time magazine indicates that, while cash helps pay for services to help victims access resources, it isn’t what many of those victims want. First and foremost, the report suggests victims want acknowledgment and amends from the bystanders and others complicit in these crimes, not just the offenders. They want to stop the common conclusion that the victim must have been at least partly at fault. That she dressed provocatively to encourage and entice the perpetrator or did something else to make the offender think it was okay to abuse a victim.

Either by complicity or inaction, there is often a larger group who knew something was happening but would not speak up. That mentality has to change.

We have to acknowledge that we need to do more than we are. We need to let the world know who these perpetrators are, rather than let them get away with what amounts to a small monetary cost, and a non-disclosure agreement that leaves them free to go somewhere else and do it all over again. There is plenty of evidence to show how priests were suspected of abuse, but to protect the church, these priests were simply transferred to other churches. And the crimes continued.

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The interviewer in the Time magazine piece, herself an expert in the field, is quoted saying, “Only three people I interviewed had asked for payment from the men who had harmed them. Some said that no amount of money could compensate for the harm, and the idea felt almost like a vulgar insult. Others said that accepting money from the perpetrator would make them feel as though they had been bought.”

It’s pretty apparent we need to do better.

For major sports groups to have funds available to cover up sexual misconduct is inappropriate. And yet it happens.

The government needs to lead the way in making change. Let’s not let these guilty parties and their associates continue to prey on others. It’s time to expose them to the world and bring some satisfaction to the victims who have to live with that trauma for the rest of their lives.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Doug Collins

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COLLINS: Is money the best form of justice in sexual abuse cases?

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