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EUROPE July 4, 1999 VNN4227 See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this story Training Seminar In Italy BY IJYA DASA ITALY, Jul 4 (VNN) — A Child Protection Justice System Takes Shape, by Ijya dasa - ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection "I want that a new generation of devotees shall carry on this great mission successfully." - Srila Prabhupada The children of our society are our most valuable asset. They must by all means be protected. If, by this child protection judicial system, one child is protected from abuse, then in that sense, justice has been served. It is for this purpose that the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection was formed in April, 1998. As Dhira Govinda prabhu has nicely stated: "ISKCON has developed a policy of zero tolerance to child abuse in the community, and each allegation is thoroughly investigated by trained members of ISKCON in co-operation with the State authorities. In its concern for the children who experienced abuse, ISKCON has created a system for responding to and resolving child abuse cases. Through this system, the victim's experiences are acknowledged and this acknowledgement plays a large part in the healing process for victims. When the CPO receives allegations of child abuse, the process of investigation begins. Results of the investigation are given to an adjudicative panel. On this panel are child protection judges who are veteran members of ISKCON and have received training in the basic principles of recognizing child abuse." Friday, May 28th, 1999, 5:30pm: The passengers are all on board, the plane begins to taxi down the runway. We are finally on our way. Do I have everything? Briefcase, carrybag, passport, wallet, travelers checks, plane ticket, etc. Did I remember all the important papers to bring? Copy of the Judges Manual, copy of the Task Force Report, training schedule, list of seminar participants and their flight schedules, video tapes, flip chart, camera, evaluation forms, case files, etc. It's quite a long list. I think I've got everything. Our final destination is Italy,where we will conduct our second Child Protection Judges Training Seminar. It will be held in the conference room at the Villaggio Hare Krishna temple in Bergamo, about an hour and a half outside of Milan. I'm amazed at how it somehow just all finally came together. Of course we worked hard to get to this point, but I have to appreciate how ultimately it is simply by Krsna's grace that this is all taking place. So many details, arrangements, deadlines, emails, flight arrangements for fourteen devotees, and so on. The participants, all mature, dedicated devotees from all over Europe, will all be arriving tomorrow. Many of these fourteen new judges, or adjudicatory panel members, were recommended by other senior devotees in leadership positions in Europe. In fact this selection process for European judges started last year. Looking back, alot has happened since then...... July, 1998: Not long after our first Judges training seminar in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where ten North American judges received 4 days of intensive training, we began to make plans to conduct another seminar in Europe. A letter from Dhira Govinda prabhu, director of this office, was sent to temples and GBC's all over Europe: "Dear Temple President [or GBC], Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. The ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection will be holding a judges training at Villaggio Hare Krsna, in Bergamo, Italy, from October 8-11, 1998. Please recommend qualified devotees for the service of judge, or volunteer yourself for the service. We are looking for devotees who are mature, competent, spiritually strong, and who are sensitive to the topic of child abuse. Also, a judge must have a balanced view of issues, and should possess a detached objectivity. Other qualifications include an ability to maintain confidentiality, an ability to make tough decisions based on facts, not sentiment, and an intellect that can quickly process a lot of information on topics such as psychological frameworks and investigative procedures. The 4-day seminar consists of intensive training in topics related to child abuse and investigations. We recently completed our first judges training in the United States, and it was very successful. After completion of the training, judges will adjudicate and determine sentencing/rectification for cases of alleged child abuse that are connected with ISKCON. A panel of three judges will serve on each case. We expect that a typical case will involve about two hours to read the investigative file (which will be provided by the Central Office of Child Protection), and another 2 or 3 hours in conference calls. The panel of judges on a particular case will determine the schedule of conference calls and other elements of the case that require time involvement. After a judge is trained, it is estimated that s/he will serve on about 3 cases in the coming year. So, the most intensive time commitment is the 4-day training. The purpose of this endeavor is to resolve unfortunate incidents of abuse in our movement's history, and to clear the way for implementing effective systems of child protection in our schools and temples. The first phase of case adjudication involves determining whether there is truth to any of the abuse allegations, and the second phase involves determining the relationship of the abuser with ISKCON, with regards to residing in temples, performing various services, holding various positions, etc. All expenses involved in the training, including travel, will be paid by the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection. There are twelve spots available for this seminar, and we request those interested to participate to inform the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection by August 15, 1998." >From this letter we received many responses and recommendations from devotees, either willing to take up the service or recommending someone they felt would meet the suggested requirements. In fact, by mid-August I was already communicating with several of the participants regarding their flight arrangements. I continued to coordinate with Radha-raman prabhu, the treasurer at Villaggio Hare Krishna, making sure that all the arrangements for the seminar, sleeping accommodations, prasadam, video camera, etc., were being taken care of. Shortly after that, Harikesha prabhu left ISKCON and many of you are aware of that history. As a result, funding for the Office of Child Protection was in jeopardy and therefore we had to call off the training seminar in Italy. The participants were informed that we would be unable to conduct the training and we would plan for one the following year. At that time, it was unclear whether we would continue to receive funding. By the efforts of many sincere devotees, including Anuttama prabhu and his wife Rukmini dasi, Badrinarayan prabhu, and Sesa prabhu, who are all advocates for child protection, our funding source was reestablished. Saturday, May 29th, 1999, 1:30pm: Finally we've arrived in Milan. I'm not used to such long flights. About 12 hours, if you include the stopovers. No time to worry about jet-lag. Go to baggage claim, in the customs area, and pick up the luggage. It's a brand new airport and there's hardly anyone there. Customs involved just checking our passport and we are on our way. Out the double doors and there's a devotee waiting! He takes me to the car rental area and we rent a new, very strange looking Fiat, a six seater. We are following this devotee couple back to the temple. Maharani dasi, one of the seminar attendees has arrived from Switzerland and she will ride with them. About an hour and a half later, we arrive at Villaggio Hare Krishna temple. The property and the buildings are very impressive. It used to be a wealthy landowners estate. I immediately find Krita-yuga and Radha-raman prabhus and inquire about the pickup arrangements for the other devotees. I am pleased and impressed that Radha-raman prabhu, a most pleasant, humble vaisnava, has expertly taken care of all the pickups, in spite of the distance and the various arrival times, etc. Some of the devotees have already arrived and the others will be arriving shortly. Prasadam is waiting for us and we take a little before checking out the conference room. More devotees arrive and we finally have the chance to attach faces to names and become acquainted. Later, along with Ajamila prabhu, who has arrived from England, we go to retire at the hotel. Tomorrow will be a long day. Sunday, May 30th, 10:15am: Day One. The video camera is set up. The television and VCR are set up and ready. Bottled water has been provided. Note pads and pens are laid out on the conference table. We're ready to go. After breakfast prasadam all the attendees begin to arrive in the conference room. I pass out the Day One Pretests to all the participants. First question on the test: "Since its establishment in April, 1998, the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection has received allegations of child abuse against: a) less than 10 alleged perpetrators b) between 10 and 50 alleged perpetrators c) between 50 and 100 alleged perpetrators d) between 100 and 200 alleged perpetrators e) more than 200 alleged perpetrators." Not everyone circled e), which is the correct answer. Next, Dhira Govinda prabhu spends time explaining the functions of the Office of Child Protection with discussion and questions from the participants, and finishes with some ISKCON Child Protection History and Historical Overview. >From the discussion and questions, I can tell that we have a very lively, eager group of judges. Some are expressing that they weren't even sure what they were being asked to do and were not sure if they felt qualified to do the service. Mother Yasoda now takes the floor. After introducing herself to those who may not be familiar with her valuable work, she takes the devotees into a world they perhaps were not prepared for. A world which elicits many different emotions, including shock, sadness and anger, as she graphically describes the different categories of child maltreatment, complete with real life stories of horrific child abuse in ISKCON. The tears in the eyes begin to well up. Imagine, if you can, that it happened to your child, or it happened to you. It's time for lunch. As prearranged by myself and Radha-raman, Sunday's lunch is pizza from the clay oven day. The devotees at Villaggio Hare Krishna have taken special care to serve the participants in a guest section of the prasadam hall. The pizza and salad are delicious. After lunch Yasoda prabhu continues describing categories of abuse. We break from the chairs at the conference table to a more comfortable seating arrangement for watching videos, and the devotees watch a 30 minute video called Visual Assessment of Physical Abuse produced by the American Humane Association. Yasoda then spends some time talking about emotional abuse, and includes some role playing. The devotees watch a video titled But Names Can Hurt Forever. During all these presentations the devotees have many questions, many concerns and issues that they want to discuss, as if to say "We can't let these things go on!" They have alot to say and it creates a very enlivened mood, full of valuable, intelligent feedback. The cups of water keep on coming. Day one finishes with Mother Yasoda describing sexual abuse ÷ in a way that no one else can. There is no question of anyone being unable to visualize what she is describing. As a clinical social worker and an experienced interviewer of victims, both in and outside of ISKCON, she has seen and heard it all. There is a 30 minute video by Dr. Desmond Runyan, a pediatrician from North Carolina, giving his perspective of child abuse. The day ends with devotees taking the same test they took in the morning. Dhira Govinda prabhu will grade them later. Monday, May 31st, 9:45am: Day Two. The devotees start the day with another Pretest and then hear from Yasoda prabhu about Myths and Misconceptions. During the morning session we watch a videotaped discussion with Dr. Mark Everson, a renowned psychologist in the field of child abuse, whom Yasoda prabhu had invited to speak at our seminar in North Carolina last year. Mother Yasoda continued with more intensive sessions on Typology of Sex Offenders, Adult Offenders and Adolescent Offenders. Although there is a considerable amount of question and answer sessions, Yasoda prabhu keeps on track by limiting the amount of questions. There's alot of material to cover in a limited amount of time. After lunch the devotees make themselves comfortable in the video viewing area for a 3 hour video: The Boys of St. Vincent. This powerful and critically acclaimed film portrays life inside the walls of St. Vincent's Orphanage, where young boys fall victim to sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their guardians. The actor gives a terrifying performance as Brother Lavin, the head of the orphanage who must juggle the teachings of the church with his own personal demons. The plight of the boys under his care remains a secret until the orphanage janitor and a local policeman speak out against the Brothers' appalling treatment of the orphans. An investigation ensues, some of the boys courageously testify. Fearing a scandal, religious and civil authorities conspire to shut down the case and quietly transfer the accused Brothers to new postings. Fifteen years later, still unhealed, the victims go public with their ordeal. As the veil of secrecy is finally lifted, their story shocks the world........ The judges are asked to consider any similarities with child abuse in our ISKCON society. Our emotions are stirred. Tuesday, June 1st, 9:30am: Day Three. This morning I have rearranged the chairs in a half-circle so the devotees can participate in an interactive session with Dhira Govinda prabhu called "Listening Skills." Dhira Govinda has conducted these "reflective listening" sessions at the Management Training Seminar in Alachua, Florida, as well as at the recent North American GBC meetings in New Vrndavana. Everyone who attended these sessions felt it was one of the best of all the seminars. The morning session continued with Dhira Govinda explaining the investigatory process to the judges and taking comments and questions. In the afternoon Yasoda prabhu gave the judges an understanding of interviewing and validation criteria. Later the devotees watched another videotape of a talk with North Carolina State Police Forensic Psychologist, Dr. Michael Teague. Dr. Teague has assisted Mother Yasoda with interviews of perpetrators in ISKCON. Wednesday, June 2nd, 9:30am: Day Four (the final day). By now the judges are feeling that they can make a difference. They are ready to take up the service. Dhira Govinda leads a very interactive and emotionally charged discussion on Framework for Judging and Sentencing. All the devotees have very strong opinions during this session. As part of this morning's schedule we had brought copies of several cases that have been resolved by our North American judges. I had also brought copies of 10 cases, involving alleged perpetrators from Europe. Prior to lunch (the devotees had asked for pizza again), Dhira Govinda had each team of 3 judges break out into groups to work on these 10 cases and come back at the end of the day with final decisions on all of them. The judges took this challenge with great enthusiasm. They felt enlivened to take the tools they had been given during 3 intensive days of training and put them into practice. Their confidence to make intelligent, hard decisions concerning the alleged perpetrator's relationship with ISKCON, based on guidelines from previous decisions and their newly acquired knowledge could easily be seen. By days' end the judges had completed 9 of the 10 cases and were ready to print out final decisions. Finally all the participants took time to fill out an Evaluation Form. I announced to them that if anyone was still not sure if they were qualified, they could now feel confident that they were, and I handed them their official Certificate of Completion signed by Dhira Govinda and Yasoda prabhus and printed with our corporate seal. >From the Evaluation Forms, it is clear that the devotees got a great deal from the training. One new judge wrote: "Thank you for everything - Lovely association, powerful presentations. Thank you for allowing me to serve in this capacity." One consensus was felt, that with so much to learn, they could have spent more time on several of the topics. Dhira Govinda prabhu, Yasoda prabhu and myself felt that it was a very successful training seminar and that we have a group of dynamic, dedicated judges. Conclusion: Through the efforts of devotees like these dedicated judges, the devotees from the Taskforce, the GBC, who by their pledges, promises and commitments have demonstrated their determination to make Child Protection an indispensable part of our ISKCON society, we can create a safe environment, full of affection and love, for our children. Due to Maharaja Pariksit's powerful, Krsna conscious rule, the personality of Kali was not able to find a place of residence in the kingdom. Similarly, by establishing this kind of child protection judicial system, which sends a clear message that child abuse of any kind will not be tolerated, there will be no place for perpetrators of child abuse to carry out their crimes in our ISKCON society. By firmly establishing agencies like the Central Office of Child Protection, we can work toward fulfilling the legacy that Srila Prabhupada has given us and lead the world, as a truly religious society with genuine integrity, capable of establishing religious principles in a world full of sinful activity. My sincere thanks to Madhu Sevita, Radha-raman, Krita-yuga, and Vaikuntha prabhus, and all the wonderful devotees at Villaggio Hare Krishna, whose kind help and loving hospitality made our stay in Italy a memorable one. Hare Krsna. Related VNN Stories | Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
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