Ten years after the fact, I discovered that my daughter was asked, “Do you masturbate?” That wholly inappropriate question was posed to her by the bishop when she was 12. It happened behind closed doors, all alone, a child with a grown man. My daughter didn’t know what the word meant. She asked her friends. They didn’t know. The internet was her next shot at finding out what the bishop was talking about. And there she found it, in all it’s graphic imagery and detail. My innocent 12 year old daughter was introduced to masturbation and pornography by the shaming questions of an older man in the seat of ecclesiastical power. My next query, “Honey, were you ever asked about masturbation again.” Her response: “All the time.” Behind closed doors and behind my back, my sweet child was asked probing sexual questions for 6 years, from the age of 12 through 17. I am shocked that any parent would tolerate this. I…am…angry…at myself for not being there for my little girl and at the church for condoning this practice.
Tags: 5. Sexual abuse
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