For too many precious souls, the Church is not a community of refuge. Instead, it is the source of deep hurt, profound trauma, and little hope. It is possible for the Church to actually reflect the love and beauty of Jesus and become the safest place for vulnerable people and the most welcoming and affirming community for the wounded. How does this happen?
SPEAKER BIO:
Boz Tchividjian founded GRACE in 2004. A former prosecutor, Boz created the first “Sexual Crimes” division at the Office of the State Attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida. Later, as the division chief, Boz was personally responsible for prosecuting hundreds of sexual victimization related cases and supervising thousands of such cases. A world-renowned expert on issues related to sexual violence perpetrated against children and adults, Boz has spent over twenty years utilizing what he learned as a prosecutor to train and equip prosecutors, investigators, social workers, and medical personnel in handling various aspects of child sexual abuse prosecutions. Boz has also represented sexual assault plaintiffs in civil cases against perpetrators and institutions.
He is a former columnist for Religion News Service, where he wrote a weekly column that focused on the intersection of abuse and faith communities. His columns can now be found at netgrace.org/resources.
Boz is a published author and recently co-authored “The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries” with psychologist and attorney Shira Berkovits. His scholarship focuses on issues related to sexual victimization. His most recent article, entitled, “Catching American Sex Offenders Overseas: A Proposal for a Federal Mandated Reporting Law,” was published in the UMKC Law Review and is the basis for recently drafted federal legislation.
In addition to his duties with GRACE, Boz currently serves as a professor at Liberty University School of Law, where he teaches Child Abuse and the Law, a course which he developed and is designed to prepare students to become child advocates inside and outside of the courtroom.
This presentation was given at the 2019 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Global Summit: EndExploitationSummit.com
