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Bhutan’s Buddhist monks accused
of sexually molesting boys
Sexual abuse of boys in Bhutan
and rape of girls by monks, a ‘predictable progression”: Not only are these
boys sexually abused but there is a scandalous level of sexually transmitted
diseases in these monasteries passed on to these young boys including HIV:
One can see the typical denial of the head monks, who ‘never heard about
it” Denial and Lying go hand in hand.
The South Asian nation of Bhutan
has been rocked by a sexual abuse scandal in which young Buddhist monks
molested by older monks fled their monastery and reported the abuse to
journalists.
While rumors about child sexual abuse in monasteries have swirled around this tiny
Buddhist nation for a while, this is the first time confirmed cases of
underage monks molested by their seniors have come to the fore.
“Every time I tried to scream or
struggled, he pinned me with his body, put his hand over my mouth and
covered it tightly,” an 11-year-old boy told the
magazine “The Raven,” describing how he was sexually abused by a 20-year-old monk in a
monastery in Punakha, about 45 miles northeast of
the capital city of Thimphu.
The underage monk said he and
his 12-year-old friend at the monastery were asked to come in turns to
sleep with the senior monk.
Another pedophile
monk, a 60-year-old man, molested not only the two boys, but two other
monks, aged nine and 11.
Months after facing regular
abuse at the monastery, the two boys fled last summer to their village in
the southwestern district of Chukha,
where they met with Sonam Ongmo,
editor of the “The Raven,” which published the story and reported the case
to the government’s National Commission for Women and Children.
Chhoekey Penjor,
deputy chief information officer at the Children’s Division of the
commission, confirmed the allegations were found to be true and “necessary
action was taken.”
The “Red Hat” sect of Tibetan
Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan,
a nation of about 700,000 people in the Himalayas between India and China.
According to the code of conduct
in monasteries, authorities disrobe an erring monk, throw flour on him and chase
him away from the monastery – as they did with the 20-year-old monk.
However, the 60-year-old monk
remains in the monastery, “The Raven” reported. “This is the first time
that child sexual abuse among monks has been reported to us,” Penjor said.
She added that the commission
had forwarded the case to the monastic body and that her department had
helped set up a child protection office.
But Lopen
Gyembo Dorji, secretary
general of the monastic body, said he was not aware of sexual abuse in the
monastery.
“The Raven” quoted a doctor at a
hospital in Thimphu
saying he is often visited by monks with psychological or sexual problems,
some showing signs of abuse.
Kinley Tshering,
a former newspaper editor, said “muffled voices” about sexual abuse in monastic
communities had been there “for quite some time now.”
Sexually transmitted infections
and HIV have been reported among young monks, and health officials make
condoms available to monastic schools.
A 2009 report on risks and
vulnerabilities of adolescents revealed that monks were engaging in “thigh
sex,” in which a man uses another man’s clenched thighs for intercourse,
according to the state-owned Kuensel daily.
A year later, at least a dozen
monks, including some who were underage, were diagnosed with STIs, and at least five monks were known to be HIV
positive.
On April 10, three monks from Bhutan, aged between 21 and 24, were
arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl in the Kalimpong
town of West Bengal in neighbouring India.
Source: Religion News Service –
Bhutan’s Buddhist monks
accused of sexually molesting boys http://www.religionnews.com/2013/06/20/bhtuans-buddhist-monks-accused-of-sexually-molesting-boys/
Further
Links:
Religious News
Bhutan
seeks to curb sexual diseases among Buddhist monks
Washington Post
Bhutan’s
Buddhist monks accused of sexually molesting boys
Tibet Telegraph
What
Lies Beneath the Robes: Are Buddhist Monasteries Suitable Places for
Children?
UNICEF
Children at the heart of
development
Global News
Child
abuse cases Bhutan Buddhist monks
The Spoof
Bhutan
Monk Arrested
Chicago Tribune
Buddhist
monks walk away from sex-abuse cases
The Guardian UK
Bhutan
brings children’s rights to monastic schools
Commentary
by Chris Chandler (Dialogue Ireland):
Tashe Tsering,
who reported the commonality of the sexual abuse at The Potala
Palace and the monasteries, including his own sexual abuse, was a ‘dancer”
in the Dalai Lama the 14th’s monastery. From the Back Cover of his
autobiography:
“As a 13-year-old member of
the Dalai Lama’s personal dance troupe, he was frequently whipped or beaten
by teachers for minor infractions. A heterosexual, he escaped abuse,
becoming a “drombo”, (very common) or homosexual
passive partner and sex-toy for a well connected monk.”
The Bhutanese boys were in a
Tibetan monastery, of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan
Lamaism.
The Dalai Lama has now coopted all the sects, the Nyingma,
the Kagyu and the Sakya,
under him, that is why he can ‘recognize’ a Kagyu
“Karmapa” along with China, this was unheard of
EVER in 1000 years for the Dalai Lama to recognize a Karmapa
but now all the sects have agreed to be under the Dalai Lama’s auspices
after thousands of years and conflictual and even
violent interactions. .
All he’d have to do, again is say STOP, but of course that would require
acknowledging responsibility for it happening, and admitting it was
happening and there being consequences, for it happening. Like the Catholic
Church has done.
It took the
ordinary people to say stop to the Catholic Churches abuses, but then the
parishioners of the Catholic Church no longer allowed themselves to be
under the authoritarian might of the priests anymore.
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