News Release
For Immediate Release: December 18, 2013
Contact: Diane Gramley 1.814.437.5355 or 1.814.271.9078
Passage of Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act Will Undermine Recently Signed Child Abuse Laws
(Harrisburg) — Today Governor Tom Corbett signed long-awaited changes to Pennsylvania’s child abuse laws. These bills were passed in response to the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse case. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) is pleased that the Governor has now signed these into law, but is concerned that two other bills that have been introduced in the House and Senate will undermine aspects of these new laws.
“Senator Anthony Williams has introduced SB 872 in the Senate and open homosexual State Representative Brian Sims has introduced HB 1811 in the House. These bills would prohibit sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) therapy for anyone under the age of 18. Passage of this type law means Jerry Sandusky’s victims will not be permitted to receive therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction which may come as a result of their sexual assault,. They would simply be victimized again through their inability to legally address these unwanted feelings, ” noted Diane Gramley, President of the AFA of PA.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance, found that “gay” men are “at least three times more likely to report CSA (child sexual assault).”
The Archives of Sexual Behavior determined in a 2001 study that nearly half of all “gay”-identified men were molested by a homosexual pedophile: “46 percent of homosexual men and 22 percent of homosexual women reported having been molested by a person of the same gender. This contrasts to only 7 percent of heterosexual men and 1 percent of heterosexual women reporting having been molested by a person of the same gender.”
Both SB 872 and HB 1811 quote from a 2009 American Psychological Association report, but fail to include some important data in the report:
Page 67: Research on harm from SOCE is limited, and some of the research that exists suffers from methodological limitations that make broad and definitive conclusions difficult.
Page 68: We found limited research evidence of benefits from SOCE. There is qualitative research that describes clients’ positive perceptions of such efforts, such as experiencing empathy and a supportive environment to discuss problems and share similar values, which seemed to reduce their stress about their same-sex sexual attractions .
Page 68: The APA Ethics Code uses the term self-determination to encompass the meanings for which many ethicists have used the term autonomy; we define self-determination as the process by which a person controls or determines the course of her or his own life (Oxford American Dictionary, n.d.). Client self-determination encompasses the ability to seek treatment, consent to treatment, and refuse treatment. The informed consent process is one of the ways by which self-determination is maximized in psychotherapy.
From a 2011 CDC report – Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9–12 :
” The prevalence of having been forced to have sexual intercourse ranged from 5.2% to 8.4% (median: 7.2%) among heterosexual students, from 14.1% to 31.0% (median: 23.7%) among gay or lesbian students, from 16.6% to 32.1% (median: 22.6%) among bisexual students, and from 10.4% to 25.3% (median: 19.8%) among unsure students.”
Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy found that boys molested by men are almost four times more likely to become homosexual or bisexual than boys who weren’t molested.
“There was rightly great public outcry when Jerry Sandusky’s actions were finally exposed. The real number of Sandusky victims may never be known, but we do know Penn State has paid $57.9 million to twenty-six of his victims. These young victims may have received money, but that does not address the psychological damage done to them and Senator Williams’ and Representative Sims’ bills would prevent that damage from being addressed,” Gramley further stated.
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