“I thought in order to get to God I had to win their approval”: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of Muslim victims abused by religious authority figures

Abstract

The abuse of individuals by religious authority figures has generated considerable political, civic and media attention. To date, much of this focus has been on Catholic and Anglican priests, although instances in the Buddhist community have also emerged. This paper presents an analysis of the experiences of individuals (n = 6) who were victims of abuse by Imams (Muslim leaders) and/or Muslim faith teachers. Participants were interviewed and their accounts analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This paper presents two superordinate themes that emerged from the rich data set: (i) Toxicity of silence and (ii) Barriers to the acknowledgement of abuse. Findings and implications of the research are discussed in relation to facilitating the reporting of abuse perpetrated by religious authority figures in the Muslim community. The authors argue that the difficulties for victims in reporting abuse have exacerbated the impact of the abuse, affecting their wellbeing and their relationships with their families and their faith.

Masochist or Murderer? A Discourse Analytic Study Exploring Social Constructions of Sexually Violent Male Perpetrators, Female Victims-Survivors and the Rough Sex Defense on Twitter

“…Considerable theorizing and research now exists that attempts to explain such sexual violence and aggression ( Johnson and Beech, 2017 ; Blagden et al, 2018 ; Willmott et al, 2018 ; Chan, 2021 ; Vera-Gray et al, 2021 ), with notable Forensic Psychologists such as the late Dr. Ruth Mann, devoting entire careers in pursuit of effective interventions that reduce and prevent sexual recidivism (see Mann and Rollnick, 1996 ; Mann, 2004 , 2011 , 2016 ; Mann et al, 2019 ). The consequences of sexual offending on victim-survivors and families are also understood well ( Boduszek et al, 2019 ; Chowdhury et al, 2021 ; Debowska et al, 2021 ; Duncan et al, 2022 ; Sharratt et al, 2022 ). A plethora of studies have aided understanding surrounding public attitudes toward sexual violence generally ( Bows and Westmarland, 2017 ; Debowska et al, 2018 ; Hudspith et al, 2021 ; Smith et al, 2021 ), though to date, very little research has explored public attitudes toward more specific types of sexual violence, resulting in harm and fatality as a consequence of “rough sex.”…”

Child sexual abuse in Ghana: A multi‐methods exploratory study

“…Perhaps, some religious leaders and teachers are more likely to sexually abuse followers and students and they capitalised on the trust reposed in them by their unsuspecting young victims. While some teachers have been found to target pupils in poverty situation and trade in sexual favours (Magwa & Nigara, 2015;Quarshie, 2021), some religious leaders, particularly in Christian and Muslim congregations have been found to capitalise on the vulnerability of their members presenting with health, social, economic, emotional and spiritual needs and abuse their members (Chowdhury et al, 2022;Quarshie et al, 2022).…”

Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse in Ghana: A Media Content Analysis of Survivors, Offenders, and Offence Characteristics

“…However, to obtain a more comprehensive understanding and a clearer sense of the extent of sexual abuse perpetration by religious leaders in Ghana, future studies could focus on examining the phenomenon among non-Christian religious groupings in the country-for example, Islam, African Traditionalists, and other indigenous religious groups. A recent study from the UK has found that some Muslim clerics also perpetrate sexual abuses against congregants (Chowdhury et al, 2021).…”