“Predators
are AA members who take advantage of other members in various ways,
such as:
sexual
harassment
sexual
attack
pressuring
members to join a particular religious group
borrowing
money
selling
goods for personal gain
offering
investment schemes
theft
of group funds”
Possible
solutions:
“Talk
to other members about it and raise the matter at a group conscience
meeting. Take care that you aren't just passing on rumours. Make sure
you have well-established facts to work with
Discuss
the problem with the person suspected of preying on other members.
Listen to their side of the matter. Let them know the group
disapproves of predatory behaviour
Make
sure other members stay with the suspected predator whenever he or
she is talking to vulnerable new members
Raise
your concerns with any of the members you think may be at risk from
the predator
Don't
think the matter ends with your group. The predator may leave your
group and move to fresh hunting grounds. You may need to warn members
in other groups
Barring
someone from meetings is an extreme step and should only be taken
when other steps have failed
In
certain situations you may need to notify the police
Under
no circumstances should members resort to vigilante action and use
violence to try to solve the problem. This would be totally against
the spirit of the Fellowship and could turn the situation into a
worse problem”
Source:
Central Region Forum, (Authorised for publication by The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous Australia)
Comment:
We could add to the above list considerably if one were to include
cult members' exploitation/manipulation/coercion of newcomers.
By
sexual predation what is clearly NOT being alluded to here is 'boy
meets girl' in AA (or for that matter 'boy meets boy' etc) and falls
in love (or even lust) but rather those individuals who serially and
systematically target newcomers purely to satisfy their own
sexual/ego desires. Members do form relationships of many types and
some work out and some don't – much like the rest of society. What
consenting adults get up to in their spare time is their business.
But we're not talking about consenting adults here. We're talking
about the deliberate exploitation of emotionally vulnerable people by
those who know exactly what they're doing. Predators may well be
sick people themselves but it's not a sickness that AA deals with.
Maybe they do need help, and perhaps the best way to do that is to
confront them with their behaviour. Failing to act not only places
newcomers at risk but simply serves to exacerbate the problem for
everyone concerned including the predator. Colluding with them or
ignoring their conduct has precisely the same effect as for example
enabling the alcoholic. One might think it's the compassionate thing
to do but it isn't. It just leads to more and more trouble. The
solution (and responsibility) lies in our hands ….. it just needs
to be applied! And by whom? Take a guess!
Over
to you
Cheers
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
PS
Our thanks to the member who drew our attention to this AA document
