News of sex abuse

Slow justice for women abused by Chile's dictatorship

05-03-2021 12:22 More than 40,000 people were tortured and another 3,200 were murdered or disappeared in the 17 years of Augusto Pinochet's regime (1973-1990), which savaged women, making them victims of aberrant methods of torture specially focused on sexual violence.

Amid virus, a shadow pandemic for domestic abuse sufferers

05-03-2021 02:08 From Argentina to Singapore, virus-induced confinement has caused an increase in violence cases and their severity and made it more difficult to report abuses and help victims, activists say.

Prosecutors in Entre Ríos investigate claim priest raped nephew

29-09-2020 14:03 Sergio Decuyper accuses his paternal uncle, Reverend José Francisco Decuyper, of raping him more than 35 years ago. 42-year-old says Pope Francis asked him not to file a criminal complaint.

Argentine bishop resumes work in Holy See as Vatican abuse probe wraps

15-06-2020 15:28 Vatican spokesman confirms Archbishop Gustavo Zanchetta has resumed work in Holy See, but claims it in no way interferes with investigations probing alleged sexual abuse.

Cardinal Pell lawyers claim child sex conviction is 'wrong' in appeal

11-03-2020 12:48 Lawyers for disgraced cardinal claimed the senior cleric's conviction for child sex abuse was based on "improbabilities", as they launched a last-ditch appeal in Australia's top court on Wednesday.

Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years for rape, sexual assault

11-03-2020 12:25 Weinstein, who has been accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a woman in New York City in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman at his apartment in 2006.

Próvolo abuse survivors ask Pope for justice

22-02-2020 10:26 Deaf survivors of clerical sexual abuse fly to Vatican, hoping to build pressure on Pope Francis to come clean about the crimes committed against them.

Deaf Argentine abuse survivors target pope with defiant message

19-02-2020 15:33 The victims of the Próvolo Institute are seeking a private meeting with Pope Francis in an effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Deaf Próvolo child abuse victims accuse Pope Francis of inaction

13-02-2020 14:49 The victims, represented by the global organisation Ending Clergy Abuse, have requested a public audience with the Argentine pontiff.

Pope defrocks Argentine priest for sexual misconduct, abuse of power

10-02-2020 22:57 Pontiff moves against Roberto Juan Yannuzzi, after a four-year investigation determined he had sex with adults under his authority, absolved them of the sin during confession and otherwise abused his power.

Vatican office lifts veil, revealing vast caseload of abuse claims

20-12-2019 17:28 Unprecedented numbers of reports flood the Vatican's central offices. The tribunal is already straining to keep up, and cases from a slough of new regions indicate that this recent surge is only the tip of the iceberg.

Pope Francis strips 'pontificial secrecy' from abuse-related cases in the Church

17-12-2019 13:55 While documentation from the Church's in-house legal proceedings will still not become public, the reform removes any excuse to not cooperate with legitimate legal requests from prosecutors, police or other civil authorities. 

Bishop appears at court in Orán for hearing on abuse charges

27-11-2019 16:57 Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta returns to Argentina from the Vatican to attend hearing on sexual abuse charges.

Vatican still refusing to expel priests condemned in Próvolo case

27-11-2019 12:41 Convictions and sentencing of two priests for rape and sexual abuse of minors reignites controversy around Holy See's protection of members of the Catholic Church facing such allegations, many of whom continue to be supported by the institution.

by Mariana Sarramea

Verdict nears for Próvolo priests as Church struggles to deal with abuse scandals

25-11-2019 08:58 Pope Francis’ homeland faces a complicated week of reckoning with the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Roman Catholic Church.

Próvolo case: Legal team expects justice for Church sex abuse victim

23-11-2019 11:38 In this exclusive report from Mendoza, Carly Graf meets lawyers from Xumek, the NGO representing plaintiffs in the shocking ‘Próvolo’ scandal, in which two priests stand accused of the rape and sexual assault of minors at an institute for deaf children in Mendoza.

by Carly Graf

UN votes to launch new probe into Venezuela rights abuses

27-09-2019 09:41 Resolution tabled by more than a dozen countries from Latin America, including Argentina,adopted by the 47-member council. It called for the UN's top rights body to "dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding mission" to Venezuela. 

Adolescent birth rate in Argentina has not dropped for 20 years

25-09-2019 07:30 Every year, 2,500 babies are born to those aged under 15 years old in Argentina. It's a figure that has remained stable for at least two decades.

by Mariana Sarramea

'They're demonic': the deaf victims of Argentina's paedophile priests speak out

05-08-2019 12:03 Victims testimony shakes trial of Catholic priests in Mendoza accused of sexual abuse.

Ex-boxing champion Carlos Baldomir given 18 years for sexual abuse of daughter

31-07-2019 13:26 Former welterweight champion unanimously convicted of "repeated sexual abuse" of a minor in the court.