Shedding light on child abuse among the Laestadians

Johanna Hurtig spent years trying to get the leaders of her religious community to take the problem seriously.

Johanna Hurtig

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By Irina Vähäsarja
     
      As many as 100 abusers within the Conservative Laestadian revival movement are believed to have violated the sexual integrity of children over a period of about four decades. The figures came out a week ago when the Central Committee of Conservative Laestadian Congregations (SRK) reported on results of an internal investigation.
      The leadership expressed regret over the inability to recognize or to adequately deal with the cases within the movement. Instead of reporting cases to the police, the focus has been on forgiveness of sins, and keeping the victims quiet.
     
About 30 cases have gone to court in the past decade, and verdicts have been reached in most of them. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is now investigating whether or not there might be other cases within the movement that have not been brought to the attention of the police.
      Some of the information in the internal SRK investigation was from Dr. Johanna Hurtig, an expert in child care issues, who collected the information in order to analyse the phenomenon. The survey led to an investigation of the experiences of the victims. A Conservative Laestadian herself, Hurtig tried for years to get SRK leaders to wake up to the phenomenon, but always ran up against a wall of influential men.
     
“When did you first become concerned that there could be child abuse hidden inside the Conservative Laestadian Movement?
      “My colleague from the University of Lapland, Professor of Social Work Merja Laitinen, interviewed incest victims in the early part of the past decade. She asked me what it means that some of the victims said that they had achieved reconciliation with the perpetrator in the name of Jesus and through His blood. I recognized the words of attonement from the Gospel, and said that it required obedience to the law, and not turning a blind eye to crime. However, I did not think at the time that the problem would have been so extensive.”
      “In 2008 in connection with a certain chain of events I noted that it might be necessary to talk about children’s rights and to examine the readiness of the movement to deal with child welfare issues. I wrote about the matter to SRK and met with the leadership once.”
      “Early the next year I learned about a large number of incest cases. There were many victims and perpetrators, and the perpetrators were imprisoned. I came to the conclusion that the matter must be investigated.”
     
How did you notice that the abuse might be linked with the doctrine of the movement?
      “In the spring of 2009 I took part in an event in which an SRK worker spoke about a case of incest that had come to light, pointing out that although we are horrified by the idea that a devout father of a family would have abused his own child, it is a sin that is not any worse than what each of us are ready to commit in our own hearts.”
      “I feel that such talk is a dangerous normalization of violence. I wrote about it to SRK and asked why such ideas are taught.”
     
What was the attitude of the leaders?
      “A meeting was arranged, but I did not get answers to my questions. The leadership did not recognize the concern that I expressed, or a need to discuss the matter. Instead, it saw the cases as isolated events.”
     
How did the information about cases of abuse end up in your hands?
      “People who I know started to pass on information about convictions, and about events, because they knew that I am interested in the matter. At the beginning of 2010, when child abuse in religious communities was made public, I was contacted by victims and by people close to them. The most recent ones are from a few days ago.”
     
How did you pass on the information?
      “As no discussion with the SRK was taking place, I contacted the Archbishop [of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church], and through him I got in touch with Martti Esko, director of family questions at the Church Council. The support of the Church has been important.”
      “When SRK leaders heard about this they asked for the same information for themselves. Despite promises to the contrary, the five-page memo that I sent them was not discussed by the SRK board or its executive committee. I was not allowed to read the internal report that was made, even though I had taken part in the process with the information that I had.”
     
Have the leaders put pressure on you?
      “I wouldn’t say that my treatment involved pressure, because putting pressure is something that is active. But I have felt that I have been bypassed.”
     
Why have you been treated like this?
      “This kind of taking of responsibility by an ordinary member has been seen as a threat for some reason. A theological interpretation machine has been used to counter it, in which my work has been labelled as something that is “against the Kingdom of God’, and I and others who have taken a stand have been seen as ‘wolves tearing at Zion’.”
      “I have examined the structures of the community, and have raised questions about things that have usually been seen as sacred. Perhaps it has brought a feeling to the leaders that there is something in me that is alien in a spiritual sense and that I am not worthy of attention.”
     
Why has the scope of the abuse come out only now?
      “The phenomenon is by nature something that is hidden, no matter what the environment.”
      “For a long time there may have been a genuine belief that there is so little abuse that it does not need to be discussed, or worried about. Information about the cases has been dispersed. Perhaps the wrong kind of tolerance has been developing toward a serious phenomenon.”
      “There has not been any single model for confronting the issues. There are people who have acted correctly and brought the cases to the police, and helped the victims get help.”
      “Then there is a distorted idea of confession and its use. According to this, the Gospels help even in cases of serious crime, and that is all that is needed. Perhaps there has been a naïve idea that this would make the perpetrators whole again.
     
Why haven’t the leaders wanted to discuss the matter openly?
      “This has been a three-year-long mystery to me. A movement that is otherwise so painstakingly meticulous about Christian morality and responsibility, and which speaks so affectionately about children, sidesteps something like this, even though there has been a tremendous public pressure on it. I cannot explain it in any way.”
      “I think that this is about SRK’s’ leaders, because the problems link up partly with the teachings and its practices. On the other hand there is reason to give recognition to the fact that the movement has now brought forward the matter with humility and admitted that it had vacillated. I believe that this can be a door in the direction of something new.”
     
Do you feel that there are characteristics in the movement that can lead to abuse?
      “I am only starting to ponder the reasons. The experiences of the victims bring out distortions of forgiveness, and the fatigue of large families. Children can sometimes find it hard to get enough attention from adults, and to become conscious of their rights when they grow up in a large group. Exhausted parents are not always capable of sensing their children’s needs and if they are feeling all right.”
      “Also the position of women, restrictions linked with sexuality, and the strong community faith can have an effect. When the community itself is seen to be sacred, its structures and practices are not examined in a critical manner. It can hide extreme evil.”
      “But matters in the culture, the community, and in the teaching do not cause these cases on their own. An overwhelming majority live healthy and responsible lives. There has to be some other factor, for instance, a distorted way of thinking which sexualizes children, and which is passed down from one generation to the next.”
     
How have victims been treated within the movement?
      “At worst, they have been rejected in their families and their community. Many victims have said that rejection by the community has been even worse than the original violence.”
      “The community does give support in tribulations that do not involve a moral conflict, but handling cases of domestic violence or incest is difficult, because they bring out things that are not supposed to exist in the community.”
     
You have lived in the Conservative Laestadian movement all your life. Has this series of events changed your attitude toward the group?
      “Of course it has sparked personal reflection. I feel that when one sees that an injustice is taking place, the right thing is not to go away, but to try to have an impact.”
      “I have also received support from many in the movement. This has strengthened my faith in the existence of a healthy core in the movement.”
      “At the same time, many have seen that this involves something bigger: the position of the individual and participation in a community.”
     
Helsingin Sanomat. First published in print 17.4.2011


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Laestadians admit mistakes in dealing with child abuse issue (8.4.2011)
  Leading Laestadian figure charged with serious sex crimes (7.1.2011)
  Key figure in Laestadian movement remanded on incest suspicions (29.9.2010)
  Incest victim of Laestadian preacher tries to piece his childhood together (12.1.2010)

Links:
  SRK, the Central Committee of Conservative Laestadian Congregations
  Conservative Laestadianism (Wikipedia)

IRINA VÄHÄSARJA / Helsingin Sanomat
irina.vahasarja@hs.fi