S. Stutzman claims 67% of Anabaptist women have been sexually abused

[Neto]

Simply stated, child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. It can be direct (molestation or rape) or indirect (flashing, exposure to pornography or sexual language etc.).

Not a specialist in this area at all, but I would think that relative age has no importance in what is abusive behavior. The victim could be much older than the perpetrator (especially if you include things that do not require physically over-powering the victim, such as the things in your 'indirect' list).

[RZehr]

According to this poll done by Tim Stoltzfus by about 600 Mennonite young people in 2015, 11% of the females reported that they have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their life, 5% physical abuse and 22% verbal abuse. For males the numbers were 4%, 4%, & 23% respectively.
https://timothystoltzfus.files.wordpres ... g-you1.pdf

[Aurien]

According to this poll done by Tim Stoltzfus by about 600 Mennonite young people in 2015, 11% of the females reported that they have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their life, 5% physical abuse and 22% verbal abuse. For males the numbers were 4%, 4%, & 23% respectively.
https://timothystoltzfus.files.wordpres ... g-you1.pdf

So when combined that's a 15% rate of sexual abuse which is (if my math is correct) 97.5 out of the 650 young adults surveyed.

[QuietObserver]

According to this poll done by Tim Stoltzfus by about 600 Mennonite young people in 2015, 11% of the females reported that they have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their life, 5% physical abuse and 22% verbal abuse. For males the numbers were 4%, 4%, & 23% respectively.
https://timothystoltzfus.files.wordpres ... g-you1.pdf

So when combined that's a 15% rate of sexual abuse which is (if my math is correct) 97.5 out of the 650 young adults surveyed.

You need to average the percentages, not add them together. Assuming it’s an equal amount of male and female respondents, it would be 7.5%.

[Josh]

If this poll is correct (which seems to agree with my own personal experiences), the rate of abuse in our circles is much lower than in the world.

Of course, it should be 0% amongst the people of God. If we had a pure church with a pure communion, it would plummet to 0%.

[Aurien]

According to this poll done by Tim Stoltzfus by about 600 Mennonite young people in 2015, 11% of the females reported that they have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their life, 5% physical abuse and 22% verbal abuse. For males the numbers were 4%, 4%, & 23% respectively.
https://timothystoltzfus.files.wordpres ... g-you1.pdf

So when combined that's a 15% rate of sexual abuse which is (if my math is correct) 97.5 out of the 650 young adults surveyed.

You need to average the percentages, not add them together. Assuming it’s an equal amount of male and female respondents, it would be 7.5%.

Oops I never was good at dong math. Looks like I should pick up a refresher course.

[RZehr]

One number is how many have been abused. But the other number is how many abusers there are in our churches, who have multiple victims.

And then of course the obvious, difficulty of determining what we are talking about as far as sexual abuse.

From a Mennonite girl that was touched once in her life by a non-Mennonite at a grocery store, to the next Mennonite girl molested repeatedly by say, a Mennonite relative who may have many victims. These are wildly different, but it is conceivable to me that the grocery girl wouldn’t answer that she has never been sexually abused if asked on a survey.

[Dan Z]

If this poll is correct (which seems to agree with my own personal experiences), the rate of abuse in our circles is much lower than in the world.

Of course, it should be 0% amongst the people of God. If we had a pure church with a pure communion, it would plummet to 0%.

Thanks RZehr for linking this survey.

I have to agree with Josh that Stoltzfus' numbers are more consistent with my experience and expectations than what Stutzman claims (although to be fair, Stutzman and Stoltzfus may not be comparing apples to apples). Regarding my experience however, I recognize there is much more going on in the shadows of our community that I am privy to - and that we as a community are notoriously slow to bring the sexual sins in our midst into the light (see my comments on the CAM crisis).

Anyway, for context, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the sexual abuse rate for girls 18 & under in the US is tragically about 25% and for boys its about 11%. So if Stoltzfus' non-scientific survey even remotely mirrors reality, abuse rates in the CM community may be less than half the US average. Sociologically, you would expect a community of faith with intact families, in-group accountability, minimal substance abuse, and clear moral teachings (much less the Spirit's enabling) to be quite a bit lower than national norms - so this all lines up in my mind.

[Dan Z]

Somewhere upwards of 2/3 of girls in Anabaptist- type churches, it appears to me, are suffering extensively from something of sexual nature done to them. (for those of you hating on the term Anabaptist, please suggest an alternative umbrella term) It may be considerably higher. This feels to me like a plague, a scourge, an overwhelming evil. I want to know why

I'd really love to know where Stutzman sources his info here. Has anyone found out?

Maybe I said this before, but this is a dramatic and incendiary accusation - and frankly, if 2/3 of Anabaptist girls (and maybe "considerably more") have been abused, and Stutzman can prove it with solid data, then we need to shut the whole movement down, throw our head coverings and hymnbooks and copies of Martyr's Mirror into a big bon fire, and walk away - and I'll light the match! On the other hand, if this type of claim is not credible, then Stutzman is playing fast and loose with his claims, and we've all been slandered.

Look, sexual abuse is a scourge both in the world and, yes, in our midst. One child harmed by this type of abuse is one too many - and a millstone is the imagery our Lord used as a fitting garment for an abuser. We MUST take the issue seriously and denial of the problem is not an option - BUT - let's be clear-eyed about the truth. We shouldn't need fanciful numbers and false claims to scare us into action (fueling the fires of our critics on the one hand, and boosting the skepticism of those who don't take the problem seriously on the other). Fake data claims help no one.

[Josh]

Absolutely agree, Dan.

I feel confident in the doctor’s survey, and it gives us something to work with. We have an abuse problem, but it’s a fraction of our people. But a fraction of our people are dealing with terrible suffering, or are fallen into terrible sin. And it could be hard for the majority to even accept or understand this is what is going on.

This will be work that will eventually interest outside researchers, so expect better data to emerge in the coming years. In the mean time, my duty is to my community and close brethren to root out and stamp out this sin, and to submit my own life to my brethren so that I don’t fall into the same sin, ultimately relying on the Lord to save us all.