My name is Mike Frazier. I am a psychiatrist and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The goal of this petition is to help The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a leader and example in how it protects, aids and provides justice for its members who suffer from abuse.
About 24 people every MINUTE are victims of physical or sexual abuse (Source: National Domestic Violence Hotline).
Unfortunately, this means that NO organization is free from abusers. This includes schools, sports, and unfortunately religious organizations.
My wife was sexually abused and sex trafficked by her parents from age 4 to age 23 (her story here).
During this entire time, her parents were held in high standing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They held callings. They were temple recommend holders. They even served a Church service mission.
They hid their second life well. And my wife didn’t feel safe enough to report this abuse until years after she was free from it.
But, she did build up the courage and we reported this abuse by sending letters to our Church leaders, her parents’ Church leaders, her parents’ Mission President, and two of the 12 Apostles.
In fact, we even confronted her parents IN FRONT OF their mission president.
The Church’s response?
To have the Mission President say “I have to trust the interview process.”
In other words, I have to believe THEM over YOU.
Also, to have our bishop and stake president directed by higher leadership to “talk to us.”
We hold NO ill feelings towards our bishops or stake presidents. They have been wonderful.
But…
No disciplinary action was taken towards her parents by the Church.
There was no chance for us to testify against them in a Church hearing.
They continued their mission, temple attendance, and good Church standing as if nothing happened.
This is WRONG.
It is NOT what Jesus would want happening in His Church.
Unfortunately, as we’ve started to connect with other people, we’ve seen that inaction is more the rule than the exception when it comes to the Church’s response to claims of abuse before, during or after the abuse.
As a psychiatrist, I understand how damaging abuse can be, and how having your claims ignored can cause further trauma.
As part of this movement, I am compiling stories to help give voice to those who have been abused and do not feel that appropriate action was taken by the Church to help protect them or others from the abuser.
I plan to turn these stories into a book.
If you have a story to share where you or a loved one were abused mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically or sexually, reported your abuse to a Church leader, and were unhappy with the Church’s response, please visit this page to share your story, either with your name or anonymously. Your story matters.
As I asked several friends in Church leadership positions, they didn’t really know what to do if someone reported abuse.
And why would they? These Church leaders are not professionals in mental health, abuse treatment and prevention, or the complicated legal matters surrounding claims of abuse.
There’s a Church hotline for the leaders to call, which mainly gives legal advice.
And, as The First Presidency’s recent letter points out, this advice is often to stay out of court cases, to avoid “the Church from being inappropriately implicated in legal matters.”
Unfortunately, there’s no similar number for VICTIMS of abuse to call to get HELP and seek JUSTICE in the Church.
The goal of this petition is to create a clear process for victims of abuse who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to:
1. Get helpful resources to help them heal from abuse and find safety
2. Pursue appropriate legal action if desired
3. Pursue Church justice if desired and if their abuser is a member of the Church
This will require a separate division or entity of the Church.
For now, I will refer to this as an “internal affairs” division of the Church.
A separate entity that provides support for victims of abuse and investigates and tries claims of abuse against Church members.
This entity will include professionals in law and treatment of trauma and will include women.
While there are many GREAT benefits to the lay-leadership of the Church, once a claim of abuse is made, it’s better that it gets turned over to professionals.
I believe this will be a RELIEF to most leaders and a huge help to survivors of abuse.
Here is potentially how a claim of abuse would be handled once this department is created:
1. A Church member reports their abuse (past or present) to a Church leader (we’ll assume it’s a Bishop).
2. The Bishop shows love and concern and gets on the phone with the abuse hotline. This hotline would be confidential, not needing to know names or location of where the survivor lives. The Bishop and survivor work together with the hotline through the next steps.
If the survivor would rather call the hotline on their own, they would be welcome to do that. The number will be easily available on the Church’s website.
3. The victim will speak with a professional who answers the phone, and will be assigned a case worker who will be their contact person through the process. The professional will provide helpful resources for therapy and give guidance for immediate steps to take for safety if necessary. They will also ask if the victim wants to pursue criminal legal action.
4. If the victim wants to pursue legal action, the case worker helps coordinate this and lets law enforcement take the lead, with Church support through the process.
5. If the victim does NOT want to pursue legal action, the Church internal affairs department will appropriately document this to make sure the Church complies with any legal standards.
6. If the alleged abuser is a member of the Church, the victim will then be asked if they want to pursue Church disciplinary action against this member. They will be assured that it will be handled OUTSIDE the ward and stake to avoid bias and, as much as possible, embarrassment.
7. If the victim does NOT want to pursue Church disciplinary action, the victim’s name and alleged abuser’s name are noted, again in accordance with any legal requirements to protect the Church and the survivor.
8. If the victim DOES want to pursue Church disciplinary action, the internal affairs department performs an investigation and then holds a hearing.
9. The victim has the opportunity to testify against their abuser in the court hearing, by writing or in person. The hearing INCLUDES WOMEN as part of the decision making and support process.
10. The victim and alleged abuser are informed of the outcome of the hearing, which may include Church discipline and excommunication. If found guilty, the abuser’s membership record is marked as an abuser and that person may no longer serve in positions where they have opportunities to abuse others (for example, in positions where they may be 1 on 1 with youth or interviewing people).
This process is in keeping with scriptures from the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 26, in particular verse 34 and 36):
“And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in inquity, according to the word of the Lord…”
“And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out.”
And the Doctrine and Covenants (64, in particular verses 12-14):
“And him that repenteth not of his sins, and confesseth them not, ye shall bring before the church, and do with him as the scripture saith unto you, either by commandment or by revelation…”
This petition is a call to restore this kind of system to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A clear, easy-to-use, survivor-supportive system of justice where survivors can get the help they need and dangerous people can be identified and removed from the Church.
What we envision is a Church that does MORE than what is legally required to protect its members from abuse.
And that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leads the way and becomes an example for other organizations to follow in protecting its members from abuse, and aiding and supporting its members who suffer from abuse.
It’s absolutely what Jesus would want for His Church.
If you support this idea, please sign this petition.
And let’s make the Church a safer place for ourselves and our children.
Mike Frazier, MD
P.S. When you sign the petition, be sure to click “share my name and email with Stop LDS Abuse” so you can receive updates on the movement.
P.P.S. If you have a story to share where you or a loved one were abused mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically or sexually, reported your abuse to a Church leader, and were unhappy with the Church’s response, please visit this page to share your story, either with your name or anonymously. Your story matters.