A story about the punishment of a priest who turned in a fellow priest with a record of pedophilia was revealed in the press recently. [LINK HERE] Father John Gallagher, serving in Palm Beach, FL, reported the actions of a fellow priest to the local priest. Apparently, church leadership wanted him to keep silent about the abuse and put the priest back on a plane to his home country, India. For his contrary actions, Father Gallagher said that he had been “frozen” out of the church for reporting. For the action reported, there was at least one victim.
As a blogger, I am used to trolls—those who stalk certain opinions online and attack the person stating those opinions. The venom in attacks of that nature can be overwhelming. I say that because I have heard from many in Alaska who tell me about a conspiracy of silence against traumatizing actions, especially when they are criminal acts. Criminal acts are hidden because the impact on families to have a parent or relative arrested and tried for a crime against another member of the family can have an economic and emotional impact. The impact on the victim is ignored, and the victim often punished for reporting by members of the family and community. And as a result, many grow into adulthood with a full basket of trauma. The impact can be overwhelming when you consider it from the victim’s perspective, and not the perpetrators. Consider this reaction from one of the Co-Principal Investigators of the ACE Study.
”Just the sheer scale of the suffering — it was really disturbing to me," [Dr. Robert] Anda remembers. "I actually ... I remember being in my study and I wept.” [LINK HERE]
While writing about the findings about the extent of trauma inflicted on our children, Dr. Vincent Felitti stated that “It reveals that the primary issues are well protected by social convention and taboo.” [LINK HERE]
Dr. Anda was surprised at the lack of acceptance of the Study. ”I thought that people would flock to this information," Anda says, "and be knocking on our doors, saying, 'Tell us more. We want to use it.' And the initial reaction was really — silence.”
Silence is our enemy, and priests like Father Gallagher are our friends. But we can expect that many of our friends will be punished for breaking the silence.
A colleague of mine did a study on outmigration from Alaska Native villages and found that one of the reasons included removing children from the possibility of certain types of abuse. The question is a difficult one to ask, and most will deny the impact of linkages between the abuses studied in the ACE Study and the outcomes. As one who studied and advocates for the use of the ACE findings in policy, it has been difficult to promote prevention or healing. We can have good policy, but if we cannot persuade our families that recognizing the abuse that we allow to be perpetrated is important, we will not make the type of progress we need to make.
I discovered the ACE Study in 2008. In 2011, when I mentioned the ACE Study at a meeting between our largest Native advocacy organization and staff at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), I was impressed to see 3 DHSS managers react positively to my comments. They were aware of the study, and were struggling with its implementation in their programs. It’s now 5 years later, and there are positive reports on the spread of knowledge within Alaska. I am also seeing signs of the knowledge spreading throughout Indian Country.
A few states have been flirting with policy choices. The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has been conducting hearings on Indian Country. My next step is advocating for the Alaska Legislative to recognize the impacts of ACE’s within Alaska and consider those impacts when discussing legislation. Dr. Felitti has been kind enough to accept an invitation to visit Alaska and present a public lecture on ACE’s as well as talk with our Governor, Lt. Governor and our House of Representatives. We have formed an informal group to advance the proposed resolution. And I am gratified to see other states wrestling with recognition of ACE’s as a public policy imperative. Perhaps through these efforts we can make inroads against the conspiracy of silence.
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