Nick Xenophon’s underlying compassion for the downtrodden and the abused has never seriously been questioned. But in naming a priest accused — without proof — of rape he has gone too far, writes Des Ryan of InDaily.
Sexual abuse
Father Marcial Maciel: Mexico’s most notorious pedophile priest
Powerful Mexican priest Marcial Macielmay have died two years ago, but his life is suddenly getting a lot of attention in Mexico’s newspapers: with new revelations of child sexual abuse, bigamy, drug abuse and plagiarism being uncovered every day.
Is prison rape “too expensive” to stop?
Make all the “don’t drop the soap!” jokes you want, Amanda Hess talks to US prison rape victims and nobody is laughing. New standards have been released showing how prison rape can be prevented, so why do prisons think it’s too expensive to bother?
exposed 
How predator priests were hidden around the world
An extensive investigation by the Associated Press has found 30 cases of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse being transferred or moved overseas by the Church, evading police and often reoffending.
Guy Rundle: 
Planet Janet’s new wobble: blaming the victimology
Today’s column by Janet Albrechtsen is a long screed against victimhood, says Guy Rundle. Been raped? Sexually abused as a child? Forget professional advice based on real cases: just take your queue from Stieg Larsson.
exposed The signed letter that damns the Pope
The Associated Press has its hands on a smoking gun on the Pope: a signed letter from 1985 that shows he delayed the defrocking of a pedophile priest for “the good of the universal church”.
Church abuse victims have been trying to speak for 50 years
Church documents reveal that the deaf boys sexually abused by a Catholic priest in America have been trying to tell the church and local authorities about it since the ’50s — but no one listened.
Catholic Reporter: What did the Pope know, and when did he know it?
American Catholic paper the National Catholic Reporter says the Pope has some ‘splainin to do over charges of sexual abuse within the church, labelling it the “largest institutional crisis in centuries”. Can you excommunicate a newspaper?
Sullivan: The Pope must resign
Atlantic columnist and Catholic Andrew Sullivan says the Catholic Church will have to undergo a “wrenching transformation” if it’s going to survive its recent scandals: the Pope must quit, and priests must be allowed to shag.
Guy Rundle: Catholic collapse started long before the kiddie-fiddling
Recent revelations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are hardly the institution’s first catastrophic moral collapse, says Guy Rundle: its accommodation of the Holocaust was the end of its real existence.
How university colleges foster a culture of rape
News that students living at Sydney Uni’s all-male St Paul’s College set up a “pro-rape” Facebook page doesn’t come as a shock to former college residents like Mary Gardiner — “rape culture” is endemic within the hallowed institutions.
Roman Polanski raped a child. Remember?
In the ongoing media circus surrounding film director Roman Polanski’s recent arrest, let’s not lose sight of one fundamental fact, says Kate Harding: he raped a child.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: A fair and just society?
Crikey readers weigh in on whether Australia is a fair and just society and the continued storm of controversy around our dusty East Coast.
What the white balloon injunction meant to our local community
Just how powerful can a white balloon be? Let me tell you the story of our regional campaign in which a white balloon has become a rallying point for the community, writes Ilena Young.
Iranian Basij militia member tells of violence, rape and executions
An anonymous member of Iran’s Basij militia has told the Jerusalem Post of his role in suppressing protesters during the recent post-election riots, as well as acts of physical and sexual violence conducted by the paramilitary group.
Sport and sex: rogue players, predatory women and power
Why do sportspeople feature regularly in reports of sexual shenanigans? Social scientists explain.
Thousands victims of Irish church abuse
A new report from Dublin has found tens of thousands of Irish children were sexually and physically abused in religious schools and institutions from 1930 to 1990.
Are there female paedophiles?
Paedophiles are invariably thought of as men — and they mostly are. But do women commit sexual abuse against children?
Richard Neville: my school of hard Knox
When I attended Knox Grammar school half a century ago, assaults on children were almost a daily occurrence, writes Richard Neville.
S-x offending is a public health issue
The victims of s-x offenders are being exposed to greater harm because of our refusal as a society to move away from punitive measures and fear driven policy, writes Greg Barns.
Howard’s NT rescue plan is in serious trouble
When John Howard announced his Northern Territory Aboriginal rescue plan less than two weeks ago he believed he was on an election winner. But already this misconceived, ill-advised, policy-on-the-run project is in serious trouble.
