Abstract
This article was first published in English (SCM Press, 2021) and is published here in Spanish. It presents findings from qualitative interviews with five women who spent time as sisters in religious orders (in Argentina, France, Germany, Peru, and the Philippines). They are all survivors of past sexual abuse. Three of them experienced clergy sexual abuse during their early years in their religious orders, and other two were subjected to sexual abuse by relatives during childhood. Each interviewee was asked to read an article suggesting that Jesus experienced sexual abuse during his stripping, torture, and crucifixion (see Tombs 2019). Our questions explored the women’s views on: (1) whether they had previously viewed their own abuse in light of the the suffering of Jesus; (2) whether the article’s reading of crucifixion and sexual abuse was new to them and whether they found it persuasive; (3) whether seeing Jesus this way was helpful to them as survivors of sexual abuse; and (4) what significance they saw this as having for the wider church. Their responses suggest that the innocence of Jesus can be an important source of pastoral support for some survivors of sexual abuse. In addition, for the wider Church, acknowledging Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse can help to address victim-blaming.