Child sex abuse 'crime against humanity'

2010-10-30 08:00

Rome - Victims of clergy sex abuse from a dozen countries are gathering in Rome this weekend to launch a petition demanding the United Nations designate child sex abuse as a crime against humanity.

Organisers said the Sunday gathering would mark the first time that abuse survivors from around the world gather for a day of healing and to demand greater action from the Vatican. A few hundred people are expected.

Organisers had hoped to stage the demonstration at the Vatican, but said they had to move it a few hundred meters away because the Holy See declined to give them access.

Organiser Gary Bergeron, abused as an altar boy by a Boston priest, said on Friday the issue needs to be treated as a global one.

- AP