Is there a role for the General Service Board in protecting minors who are members or
potential members of Alcoholics Anonymous?
Background information for the Executive Session of the trustees of the General Service
Board of Alcoholics Anonymous. July 29, 2007
Introduction
In response to the abuse of A.A. members in Great Britain, Canon Geoffrey Brown, nonalcoholic trustee of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous in Great Britain,
offered a very thoughtful article (“Sledgehammers & Walnuts?”) comparing abuse in
A.A. with abuse in the church. He states,
It is all too easy for groups who share a common experience of renewal based upon
spiritual awareness, honesty and concern for others, to believe that they run no risk of
harbouring abusive conduct. As a result, they are inclined to ignore, or even worse to
deny, the possibility of its existence amongst them. But the problem with caring
communities is that, by definition, they are bound to attract the kind of vulnerable
person that a very small minority can prey upon (and this must be as true of A.A. as it
is of the church). It is because of this fact that such groups need constantly to be on
their guard against any conduct that takes advantage of the powerless.”
This candid assessment stands as a fitting opening statement on the sexual abuse of
minors in A.A. in the U.S. and Canada.
The euphemism “13-stepping” (sexual harassment) is used in A.A to refer to older
members, usually men, who pressure newer members, usually women, into dating or sex.
Certainly women can take advantage of underage boys, and there are also instances of
liaisons between men and boys and between women and girls. However, the vast
majority of situations appears to involve men preying on underage girls. A man in A.A.
who becomes sexually involved with a minor is not harmlessly twitterpated. He is taking
advantage of a child at a most vulnerable time in her life, and committing a serious crime.
Consider the following examples:
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Last month I spoke with a 35-year-old woman who has been sober and active in
A.A. for over 20 years. As a 15-year-old newcomer she was raped by an A.A.
member in his early 20s. Her sponsor told her to “pray for him.” She reported the
rape to the police thirteen years later, to no avail. Her unsolicited, spontaneous
and succinct recommendations to prevent the sexual abuse of minors in A.A.:
“better sponsorship, attendance at women’s groups, a pamphlet about the issue
and have the GSRs talk about it”
A few years ago a woman with many years of sobriety asked me for guidance
upon discovering that her daughter had been molested by a man in A.A. I
encouraged her to contact the police. I was stunned when she expressed concern
about breaking the molester’s A.A. anonymity.

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At a recent young people’s meeting a member told me that a 22-year-old man was
sexually active with a 14-year-old girl he met in A.A. The man who told me this
stated his intention to contact the police.
At a recent A.A. meeting a woman mentioned that some years ago an A.A.
member broke into her house, tied her up and raped her. Her sponsor told her to
“forgive him.” The rapist was sentenced to prison.
A number of years ago, in a well-known case, an A.A. speaker at an A.A.
convention was caught in sexual activity at the convention with the 15-year-old
daughter of another A.A. member at the convention.
In July 1993 The AA Grapevine published a letter from a concerned mother who
mentioned that her 15-year-old daughter had been impregnated by an “old-timer”
in A.A. The mother commented, “But I do think that those with maturity and
leadership in AA have a responsibility to be very vocal about the dangers of
Thirteenth Stepping. No more turning a blind eye to this problem.”

Thomas Cahill, in deep despair and frustration over the pharisaical dissembling of church
authorities in the clergy sex abuse scandals, presented a very graphic and shocking
analogy in his recent book, Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism,
Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe (2006):
Dante bewailed the selling of church offices, describing this practice as “Christ
[being] bought and sold the whole day long” in the Rome of Pope Boniface VIII. That
was, however, a far less depraved situation than the current one, where, as Dante
would be forced to conclude, the twelve-year-old Christ, who conversed with the
doctors of the law in the Temple of Jerusalem (in Luke 2:41-52), is made to give blow
jobs and rammed up the ass the whole day long by the doctors of the law of the New
Jerusalem, while the high priests of the Temple stand guard at the entrances, lest any
uninitiated outsiders should discover what is going on. However shocking these
words may sound to some ears, there can be no doubt that this is what clerical
dissemblers have done to the Jesus they claim to care so much about. (pp. 315-6)
From a practical standpoint, this isn’t all that different from an A.A. member abusing a
minor – and the A.A. Fellowship doing nothing to stop it.
Demographic Considerations
Our membership survey does not track the percentage of minors in A.A. The percentage
of members under 21 has ranged from 1 percent to 3 percent between 1983 (the first year
this category was tracked) and 2004. Members aged 21 – 30 years old (tracked between
1986 – 2004) ranged from a high of 19 percent in 1989 to a low of 7.9 percent in 2004.
The “30 and under” designation, in use from 1974 – 1983, increased each period from 8
percent in 1974 to 20 percent in 1983. An overall perusal of our membership surveys,
however, shows an aging population in AA, but there are still thousands of minors in
A.A. meetings all over North America. The recently revised pamphlet “Young People
and A.A.” (2007) includes the stories of 10 women, 7 of whom joined as minors (13 – 17
years old) and 9 men, 4 of whom joined as minors (14 – 17 years old).

 Cocaine Anonymous conducted a non-scientific survey of 1,000 members in North
America in 1996. It showed that 1 percent of C.A.’s membership was under 18 years old,
with 10 percent from 18 – 24 years old and 38 percent from 25 – 34 years old.
A 2003 survey of Alateens by the Al-Anon Family Groups showed that the average age of
an Alateen member was 14 years old.
The percentage of women in A.A. has remained steady at 33 – 35 percent for 30 years
(1974 – 2004). But the percentage of women 30 and under, tracked in 1989, 1992, 1996
and 1998, ranged considerably higher: from 38 percent – 43 percent. The C.A. survey
showed that 32 percent of its members are women. The Alateen survey showed that 62
percent of its members are teenaged girls. In the often-intersecting worlds of various 12Step Fellowships, sexual predators have ample access to young, potential victims.
In the aftermath of the clergy sex abuse scandals, the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops retained the John Jay College Research Team to review the literature on child
sexual abuse in various organizations, including the church. It found that facts on the
extent of child sexual abuse are elusive at best. The literature revealed child sexual abuse
problems in a number of well-regarded youth agencies and programs, including religious
organizations, the Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Young Men’s
Christian Association, youth sports programs and child caregiving.
Of course, alcoholics are not exempt from the problems of society, and this includes child
sexual abuse. Alcoholics are not well-known for their even-keeled relationships, their
well-defined boundaries or their maturity in sexual situations. It is not surprising that
these problems continue into the sobriety period of some A.A. members. For all we know,
the rate of child sexual abuse in A.A. may be higher than that of other organizations that
are specifically set up to address the concerns of youth.
Response of other Twelve-Step Fellowships to Abuse of Members
Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon Family Groups and Alcoholics Anonymous in Great
Britain and Australia have taken tangible strides to deal with the problem of child sexual
abuse and other such issues in their Fellowships. A brief summary follows.
In the March 2006 NA Conference Report it was noted that, “Our greatest challenge this
past year was dealing with unsafe and dangerous people in local groups. The topic on
sexual predators at meetings was an involved discussion, with lots of input from our
groups, areas, and region and in our zone (New England Zonal Forum).”….. and
“’Guidelines for Inappropriate Behavior at NA Meetings’ has been regionally approved
and is generating many requests at the European Delegates Meeting. Recently we also
sent out copies of the UK Region’s document ‘Guidelines for Dealing with Inappropriate
Behaviour’ to all our groups.”

 Recently the NA World Service Office received a telephone call from the District
Attorney of a California county informing NA that a registered sex offender was secretary
of a young people’s NA group, and if NA didn’t fix the problem the D.A. would.
Although generally the NA WSO wouldn’t interfere with a local matter, in this
extraordinary circumstance, WSO intervened and the secretary was replaced.
Narcotics Anonymous, with some 43,900 meetings in 127 countries (as of March 2007)
will hold its World Convention in San Antonio, Texas over Labor Day weekend 2007. To
protect minors at the young people’s dance and meetings there, extra precautions are
being taken. Also, NA is having legal research done on minors in NA, with an emphasis
on California and Texas. NA offered to share the results of its legal research with the
General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous.
If A.A. decides to go forward with a Fellowship-wide discussion about child sexual
abuse, NA suggested that the discussions focus on communication and the creation of
safe environments, rather than on predators, which has a tendency to turn into a “witch
hunt.”
The Al-Anon Family groups went through a multi-year process of deciding how best to
protect its Alateen members. In 2004 they approved a motion that the areas institute
minimum safety and behavioral requirements, which may include background checks for
Alateen sponsors. During the sharing, “A Canadian Delegate shared that in Canada,
groups that work with youth are required to have criminal records checks.” (2004 AlAnon World Service Conference Sharing, p. 26.) The new rules essentially require
Alateen sponsors to be registered with the Al-Anon World Service Office. In 2005 they
shared their “Lessons Learned,” which included the importance of communication and
the awareness that the majority can be tyrannized by the minority.
In 2001 the Central Region of AA in Australia published a piece on “Dealing with
predators”, which they defined as “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 and theft of group funds.” It concluded with, “It is clear that older
members and office holders have a moral obligation to help protect vulnerable members.
It’s possible they may even have a legal obligation to do so. Certainly we need to do
everything we can to ensure newcomers know an AA meeting is a safe environment.”
In 2000 AA in the U.K distributed a discussion document about the conduct of AA
members to the Fellowship in Great Britain. It included recommendations, suggestions
about personal conduct and suggestions about actions to be taken personally, as groups
and at group meetings. In 2001, with the approval of its General Service Conference. a
“Draft Guideline on Personal Conduct in AA Meetings and our Common Welfare” and a
“Draft Guideline on Violence” were distributed to the Fellowship for its consideration.
The Spring 2001 “AA News” from the General Service Office of Great Britain discussed
the response of the Fellowship to the discussion document, with fewer than 1 percent of

 the groups unsupportive of the document. These guidelines are now posted on the AA in
the U.K. website.
Interestingly, this information migrated into an article on “13-Stepping:” Why Alcoholics
Anonymous Is Not Always a Safe Place for Women”, by Cathy Bogart and Carol Pearce,
published in the Journal of Addictions Nursing in 2003:
An internal memorandum circulated to every Alcoholics Anonymous group in the
country [United Kingdom] reveals that volunteer members are increasingly being
investigated by police forces examining allegations of sexual abuse. Abusers within
the organization are said to have exploited their positions as “sponsors,” taking
advantage of the vulnerable when they are at their lowest ebb. Contact is usually
made through telephone help lines and then continued in the home. AA has guidelines
governing who is eligible to become a sponsor or answer help lines and make home
visits. But the memo reveals these have been broken, with some taking on the role
with neither the appropriate experience nor duration of sobriety. It warns that the
organization has the ”potential to become a breeding ground for predatory behavior.”
Coupled with the May 7, 2007 issue of Newsweek (“A Struggle Inside A.A.”), which
described the cult-like aspects of an A.A. group in Washington, D.C., including
allegations of adult male members having sex with minor females, it appears that some
mental health professionals and academics are becoming increasingly wary of Alcoholics
Anonymous as a safe place for women seeking recovery from alcoholism.
Youth Protection in Other Organizations
Youth organizations generally have youth protection guidelines that must be followed by
the staff and volunteers. The Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization requires an interview,
references, a home assessment, a professional assessment, training and a criminal
background check. Little League discourages one-to-one involvement with youth and
also requires background checks for coaches, managers and others. In the Boy Scouts,
two adults must be involved in any activity; one-to-one contact between an adult leader
and a youth is prohibited; separate showers and bathroom facilities for males and
females, adults and minors are recommended; no secret organizations are allowed and
hazing is prohibited. I’m not suggesting that AA adopt these guidelines, because many of
them would be unworkable for our Fellowship. Or would they? These guidelines do
make excellent reference points as A.A. considers its responsibility to minors.
Other Considerations
The Long Form of our Third Tradition is as follows:
Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism.. Hence we may
refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon
money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may
call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other

 affiliation.
As expanded on in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Bill W. jauntily stated, “We
aren’t a bit afraid you’ll harm us, never mind how twisted or violent you may be. We just
want to be sure that you get the same great chance for sobriety that we’ve had. So you’re
an A.A. member the minute you declare yourself.” (p. 139) I don’t believe this means that
AA. groups and members must accept sexual harassment and criminal behavior –
especially toward minors. .
There are ways to deal with these problems when they arise. For example, some A.A.
groups have developed guidelines on handling disruptive members in meetings. An A.A.
member who attempts to have sex with a minor certainly qualifies as disruptive. Some
churches have developed guidelines for faith communities on how to deal with sex
offenders. Sex offenders who come forward to a church council about their status are
allowed to participate in some church activities as long as certain guidelines are followed.
The Long Form of our Fourth Tradition is as follows:
With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other
authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of
neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional
committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as
a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board. On such
issues our common welfare is paramount.
The Board of the Al-Anon Family Groups decided that the protection of minors was an
issue that might greatly affect its Fellowship as a whole, and thus the Board approved the
implementation of safety and behavioral guidelines. There is no history on how the
General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous might view this issue.
I doubt very much that our co-founders and early members anticipated the implications of
the wholesale entrance into A.A. of alcoholics in their early and mid-teens. Otherwise,
our Big Book would include references to common-sense child protection practices in the
chapters “Working With Others”, “To Wives” and “The Family Afterward.” As it is, our
literature is mute on the subject of child/youth protection in Alcoholics Anonymous. The
modern child protection movement wasn’t galvanized until the publication of “The
Battered Child Syndrome” by C. Henry Kempe, M.D., et al in the Journal of the
American Medical Association in 1962. The focus on child protection, child abuse
reporting laws, sexual abuse prevention and the rights of children did not emerge until the
later 1960s and 1970s. Alcoholics Anonymous today exists in a more complicated,
regulated and litigious world than the one that existed when A.A. was founded, and part
of that complication includes the status of minors. Dioceses all over the country have
developed child/youth protection guidelines for the interaction of clergy and church
members. Why should A.A. be exempt?

 Conclusion
Canon Brown concluded his article on “Sledgehammers & Walnuts?” by saying of
newcomers, “They put their trust in the Fellowship at the very point where they are most
open to the possibility of abuse, and it is a matter of the greatest importance that they
should not be treated in any way that damages them still further.”
The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc., in a manner that does not
turn A.A. into a social service agency nor compromise our cherished group autonomy and
our expansive membership requirement, can and should investigate ways to protect
minors who are members or potential members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
This multi-year project that will test the commitment of the General Service Board.
Eventually some or all of the following action steps might be included:
1. Begin a conversation throughout the Fellowship on how to protect minors in A.A.
2. Have this as a topic at the Sharing Session at a quarterly General Service Board
meeting.
3. Submit it as a presentation/discussion topic for the General Service Conference
4. Solicit sharing from GSO staff, GV staff and the Editorial Advisory Board.
5. Encourage delegates to hold area-wide discussions of the topic and bring
feedback to the GSO.
6. Consult with lawyers, other professionals, churches and other 12-step Fellowships
on this and related topics.
7. Discuss it at the World Service Meeting and zonal meetings, and seek input from
other General Service structures around the world.
8. Ask for specific feedback from young people’s groups, committees and
conventions.
9. Place articles on this topic in The AA Grapevine, La Vina and Box 459.
10. Develop an Ad Hoc Child/Youth Protection Committee of the General Service
Board or an Ad Hoc Child/Youth Protection Committee of the General Service
Conference.
11. Revise pamphlets with an eye toward protecting minors.
12. Draft guidelines on how to protect minors in A.A., mail them to every group in
the U.S. and Canada and post them on the A.A. World Services website.
For a host of moral, ethical and legal reasons, it is time for the General Service Board to
provide leadership in addressing the issue of child sexual abuse in A.A.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul E. Cleary
General Service Trustee
General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc