From March 3 to 19, American journalist Janet Heimlich will be speaking at various venues in London and the UK on the subject of child abuse and neglect that is enabled by religious belief. She will not be in Shropshire but humanists may wish to attend her talks while she is in the UK.
Ms. Heimlich is the author of Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment, the first book to tackle this subject in a comprehensive way.
To see a listing of Ms. Heimlich’s speaking events, please go to http://religiouschildmaltreatment.com/events/.
High-profile cases such as the child sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and “faith healing” deaths in certain Christian congregations have revealed that religion can sometimes mask deviant and harmful behavior. But the extent of the problem is far greater than most people realise.
Many children are at risk for all kinds of abuses from emotional terrorizing to “biblically” mandated physical punishment. Some pious believers refuse to report abuse to protect the reputation of a faith group or religious leader.
Breaking Their Will has received tremendous praise. Novelist Anne Rice writes in an Amazon review: “This book is well researched and well written, and frankly, I wish there were more like it on this topic.” Bishop John Shelby Spong calls Breaking Their Will “insightful, provocative, exposing, and well written.”
Janet Heimlich is an American, independent investigative reporter who has won nine journalism awards. For eight years, she reported as a freelancer for National Public Radio, and she has written many non-fiction articles. Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment (Prometheus Books; Amherst, NY) is her first book.
Shropshire Humanists 
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