The Government of Spain, the Catholic Church and the Ombudsman have agreed a system of reparation intended for the victims of sexual violence within the scope of the Church.
The Ombudsman already collected in its report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church cases of sexual abuse in Lanzarote and quantified at 25 those detected throughout the archipelago. Each location may correspond to more than one victim and one aggressor.
Starting this Wednesday, this mixed and pioneering system will make the Catholic Church assume its responsibility and reparations to victims, which may be symbolic, restorative, or economic.
Applications through the Government of Spain
According to the Government of Spain, the new office, attached to the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, will receive requests for reparation through its electronic headquarters, with all security and privacy guarantees. In addition, it will offer guidance to victims via email ([email protected]) and by phone (91 837 22 95).
The received applications will be forwarded to the Victims Unit of the Ombudsman, formed by independent specialists and professionals, which will be responsible for preparing the reparation proposal. If the parties accept it, it will be definitive and the Church must comply with it.
If there were discrepancies, a Mixed Commission will be convened with the participation of all parties and victims' associations to try to reach an agreement. If consensus were not possible, the Ombudsman will have the final say, reaffirming an essential principle: the primacy of State institutions in the protection of victims' rights.
Intended for victims who cannot resort to the judicial route
To this reparation mechanism all victims who can no longer resort to the judicial route will be able to access, regardless of whether before the implementation of this mechanism they have previously received or not any type of compensation from the Catholic Church.
The present procedure corresponds to the request for recognition and reparation of victims of sexual abuse within the scope of the Catholic Church, whose cases are prescribed or for which criminal liability has been extinguished, and when at the time the acts occurred, behaviors or conduct that could have violated their sexual freedom:
- were minors,
- were in a comparable situation,
- or had a modifying circumstance of their capacity that implies they should be subject to guardianship or curatorship.
The Spanish Executive states that to access this reparation, the facts, conducts or behaviors must have occurred in institutions dependent on the Catholic Church and that the aggressors were clerics, members of religious institutes, societies of consecrated life or lay people in the terms set out in the Protocol.
In the application, you shall provide, if you deem it appropriate, a brief description of the facts, which may be extended during the Ombudsman's assessment phase and the interviews he/she conducts with the applicants.
The application may be submitted by the person themselves who suffered the events, behaviors or conduct or the person who represents them, duly accredited.
You will be able to find more information and the most frequent questions in the attached information brochure.
