Survivor Advocates for New California Law Criminalizing Sexual Abuse of Adults
When she discovered that her state, California, lacked a criminal statute outlawing sexual contact between clergy members and adult parishioners, Lucy Huh was suddenly driven by what she calls “a personal quest:” finding a legislator who would sponsor a similar bill in California.
Thirteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that make it illegal for clergy members to have sexual relationships with adults in their spiritual care.
Lucy Huh
A doctoral student of social work at Baylor University, Huh is currently researching abuse in religious settings, including sexual abuse of adults by faith leaders. She is also a valued member of Awake’s Survivor Advisory Panel.
“I've experienced the suffering and pain firsthand and have seen how this type of abuse wrecks innocent lives and how pervasive it is,” Huh says. “Because of that, I felt I needed to do everything in my power to get the law changed.”
A good friend introduced Huh to State Senator Dave Min, who happens to represent Huh’s district in Orange County.
“We met last fall, and I explained to him why we need this bill in California and showed him the research regarding the lifelong pain and trauma that victims live with following the abuse,” Huh explains. “Soon after, he authored the bill and it was officially introduced in the California legislature on January 3, 2024.”
Senate Bill 894 is now in committee, and Huh will testify in Sacramento as a primary witness in a Public Safety Committee hearing in April.
Survivors Leading the Movement for Change
Huh has been aided and inspired by people who have pushed for these laws in other states. “I’ve been supported by survivors and secondary survivors, including a secondary survivor in Maine whose wife was sexually exploited by her pastor,” Huh explains. Although it took several attempts, he “was successful in bringing the bill forward and getting it passed in Maine,” she says. Tennessee recently passed a similar law as well.
When Huh initially contacted her state senator, she sent him a letter that included the wording of laws in other states, which Min’s team referenced to craft the California bill.
The bill’s current wording describes the power differential that exists between members of the clergy and parishioners or congregants. Because clergy are viewed as God’s representatives on Earth, congregants look to them for spiritual guidance. As a result, they are not interacting as equals, which makes true consent by the congregant impossible.
The imbalance of power is similar to that of a doctor and patient, or a therapist and client. Across all 50 states, existing state laws make sexual contact in these relationships illegal. “Therapists and doctors are put in jail and have their licenses revoked if they sexually abuse their patients,” Huh says, and she believes that spiritual leaders should be held to an even higher standard.
“If a clergy person sexually abuses an adult congregant, usually their defense is that it was consensual,” Huh says. “But consent is not possible given the enormous power imbalance that exists between a priest and congregant, and this bill recognizes that by removing consent as a defense.” It’s common for lawmakers to propose changes to a bill’s wording as it moves through the legislative process, but Huh hopes this wording will remain intact as the bill moves forward.
She is grateful that her state senator’s legislative team has asked for her input about the bill and kept her informed about its progress. Many of her fellow victim-survivors have shared with Huh about the lack of support in their faith communities in the aftermath of abuse. So it’s refreshing to be heard and to meet leaders who “want to use the power they have to advocate for victims and hold abusers accountable for their actions.” Still, she is sad that this support has had to come from outside the Church.
Strengthening Church Integrity, Protecting Victim-Survivors
Huh sees this bill as a way to strengthen the Catholic Church. “It's for the good of the Church that we bring light to darkness and hold priests accountable if they sexually exploit those entrusted to their care,” she says. “At the end of the day, this preserves the integrity of the priesthood and the clergy. There’s no excuse for this type of behavior when a person has taken a vow before God to shepherd his flock.”
Because Huh remains Catholic, “I deeply care about the Church, which is why I cannot sit and be complacent about the evil and hypocrisy of clergy abuse and clericalism,” she says.
And she is passionate about protecting victim-survivors and helping prevent clergy abuse from destroying any more lives.
“The suffering doesn’t just end with the sexual assault. It has lifelong consequences for the victim,” she says. “There are so many adult victims that haven’t spoken out, and they’re living with enormous pain, basically in silence.” Some have even taken their own lives to end their pain, Huh stresses. “If a person has been sexually abused by somebody that’s standing in the name of God, in the Church—the last place that should happen—it just does so much damage.”
—Erin O’Donnell, Editor
