Lab2PT / IN2PAST researcher Francisco Azevedo Mendes took part today in the ceremony to hand over the Gold Medal Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the members of the extinct Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Portuguese Catholic Church, which took place in the Portuguese Parliament.

Francisco Azevedo Mendes coordinated the commission’s Historical Research Group. The independent commission received the honour for its “broad and intensive study (…) to uncover and characterize situations of child abuse in the Catholic Church in Portugal, which made it possible to alert consciences and pave the way for reporting, revealing and intervening with adults who were abused during childhood, and constitutes an invaluable contribution to strengthening the transparency of all institutions as a preventive element against abusive situations”.

First published here.