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

[Aurien]

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 can't be proven, 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 (and fuel the fires of our critics).

If Steve Stutzman's information is from people who come to Strait Paths for counseling then the number could easily be that high. It's possible that two-thirds of the women that come to him for counseling HAVE been sexually abused. People don't usually seek out counseling because they've had a normal, happy life so I would expect that number to be higher there.
Tim Stoltzfus's survey was only of young adults of certain ages. The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

[RZehr]

Find it plausible that the Plainer Mennonites would have a higher percentage that the group that Stoltzfus (Not Stutzman) surveyed. My hunch would be that there are certain isolated conservative churches such as the one Ragpicker grew up in that abuse is rampant. I don’t believe that it would even be consistent at all between churches in the same conference or fellowship.

We can adjust parameters to reflect whatever rate we want to proclaim, either way, higher or lower percentages. But this does exist in our churches, and conservatives being conservative, are going to be slower to be convinced that operational changes are needed when this happens.

[RZehr]

The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

Why do you think that?

[Aurien]

The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

Why do you think that?

I think that because of the age range he surveyed. It was a relatively narrow range. It takes some people years to be able to admit that they were actually sexually assaulted. Some victims try to excuse what happened to them as not actually being that bad or not actually being sexual assault. I think some older adults may have reached the point where they can acknowledge that they were sexually whereas younger adults may still be grappling with that.

[Aurien]

The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

Why do you think that?

I think that because of the age range he surveyed. It was a relatively narrow range. It takes some people years to be able to admit that they were actually sexually assaulted. Some victims try to excuse what happened to them as not actually being that bad or not actually being sexual assault. I think some older adults may have reached the point where they can acknowledge that they were sexually whereas younger adults may still be grappling with that.

I think it's also possible that a new survey would yield higher percentages because of aftershocks of the Jeriah Mast/CAM issue. That thing spread far and wide and I think it might give some people the courage to now be able to say, "Yes I was sexually abused."
I just realized that this was apparently a survey of young adults who are current members of the Anabaptist community. I wonder how much higher the percentages would be if ex-Anabaptists were included in such a survey? Based on all the stories of sexual abuse survivors that I've read/heard I think that would represent a significant percentage jump.

[Aurien]

The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

Why do you think that?

I think that because of the age range he surveyed. It was a relatively narrow range. It takes some people years to be able to admit that they were actually sexually assaulted. Some victims try to excuse what happened to them as not actually being that bad or not actually being sexual assault. I think some older adults may have reached the point where they can acknowledge that they were sexually whereas younger adults may still be grappling with that.

I was just thinking that a survey might not be the best way to determine what percentage of young children were/are sexually abused. Younger children would need help taking a survey and that could skew the results. I was thinking that maybe a survey could be done by people who are 15 and older, but then that brings up the question of what happens when someone who is underage says they've been abused. That's obviously a crime that should be reported but I don't know how you would do that unless the survey participants weren't anonymous. If participants weren't anonymous though I think they'd be less likely to honestly answer questions like those on Tim Stoltzfus's survey. So I guess I'd like to see a survey of people age 18 and up with at least 1,000 Conservative Anabaptist participants of all types. Anyone feel like making a survey, printing it up, mailing it out to people, and analyzing the results? It sounds like an interesting idea but I think it's a bit out of my capabilities. Plus whoever did this should probably be someone who's currently a CA.

[Dan Z]

The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

Why do you think that?

I agree that the percentages can only go up the older a sample is because abuse occurs at all stages of life, (in other words some of the people in Stoltzfus' survey will likely experience abuse in life after the survey was completed) - but I don't see that accounting for the wild difference between Stutzman's numbers and national norms or Stoltzfus' numbers for that matter.

[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?

If Steve Stutzman's information is from people who come to Strait Paths for counseling then the number could easily be that high. It's possible that two-thirds of the women that come to him for counseling HAVE been sexually abused. People don't usually seek out counseling because they've had a normal, happy life so I would expect that number to be higher there

That's true, but then Stutzman should have said "2/3 of the girls who come to me for treatment have been sexually abused." That's not what he said. He claimed that "upwards of 2/3 of girls in Anabaptist-type churches...are suffering extensively from something of a sexual nature done to them."

He uses terms like "somewhere upwards of" and "it appears to me" and "it may be" to fudge the accuracy of his claims somewhat, which makes me think the 2/3 claim is subjective rather than objective. But anyone, especially an expert in a field, who publishes provocative numbers ought to be basing those numbers on hard facts - and ought to be prepared to back up his claim. I've done a lot of social and academic research in my life and career, and I'm not saying they aren't solid numbers, but I would really like to know their basis of before I accept that they are true - especially because they are SO outside of any norm that I have ever seen.

I honestly don't question Stutzman's numbers out of a desire to minimize the problem in our midst. Even if we take the (much lower) numbers from Stoltzfus' survey, that means that about 50 of the young people Tim had surveyed (out of a survey sampel of about 650) admitted they had been sexually abused! I don't care that those numbers are lower than the national norms, I care that 50 of our precious young people have to live with the hurt and shame of sexual abuse. That's all it takes for me to get up in arms about this whole tragedy. I'm sure we share that commitment Aslanhasheard.

[RZehr]

I think for better comprehension of the matter, a distinction should be made between adolescents who are primarily exploring and curious etc, and predators for whom it is lust and power and control, etc.
But I don’t really want to be the one to make those judgment calls. There won’t be a consensus.

If I were to speculate, I’d say the majority (dare I say 67%?) of the abuse numbers in our churches comprise solely of children being both the abuser and victim.

[Aurien]

The average age of survey respondents was 21.6. I expect that the percentages of sexual abuse would rise if children and older adults were included in a survey.

Why do you think that?

I agree that the percentages can only go up the older a sample is because abuse occurs at all stages of life, (in other words some of the people in Stoltzfus' survey will likely experience abuse in life after the survey was completed) - but I don't see that accounting for the wild difference between Stutzman's numbers and national norms or Stoltzfus' numbers for that matter.

Steve's original quote said,

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.

As much as I'd like to rely on only what I know personally, that's not a very objective way to measure things. His saying "It appears to me" doesn't make it sound like he did any official kind of survey on women who were sexually abused but is just relying on his own informal observations. I think his numbers are higher than what is actually true. That's why I'd like to see a new survey done with adults of all ages which includes a large sample of people from various Conservative backgrounds as well as those who were abused and then left the conservative church.