There are certainly some churches that have taken steps to put an end to clergy abuse. Some instituted policies to help protect people. Others have removed clergy members after allegations of abuse.
But some reports indicate that this has not always been the priority. Part of the reason that clergy abuse persists is that some churches have prioritized minimizing the scandal that reaches the news cycle.
In other words, if clergy abuse comes to light, they may be more incentivized to keep it secret, rather than revealing it. The church does not want to be caught up in a scandal, but may give that effort far more importance than ending the abuse to begin with.
What reports have found
One report looked specifically at Catholic churches and discovered that there had been more than 300 victims dating back to 1950, who had suffered abuse at the hands of 75 clergy members.
Instead of conducting a thorough investigation of every complaint that came in or getting in touch with law enforcement to report the illegal activity, these reports claim that the churches would often just transfer priests to new locations. They would try to remove them from the situation and cover up the scandal, the reports claim, rather than putting an end to it.
In some cases, priests were even sent to treatment camps that were more like retreat facilities. The goal was actually to have them return to work after going through this treatment process. Naturally, victims claim that not enough was being done and that this would just put others in danger in the future.
Reporting clergy abuse
This shows some of the reasons why clergy abuse has persisted over the decades and continues to be a problem today. Those who have suffered abuse need to know what legal steps they can take to report it and protect themselves and others in the future.