Holding Buddhist Organizations Accountable for Abuse. Exploring Legal Consequences (Carol Merchasin)

Carol Merchasin presents the law as a strategy for holding not just teachers but also organizations accountable for their role in enabling abuse. This far-ranging conversation explores the relative benefits to survivors and to society of criminal versus civil legal options, the ethical implications of using donor funds to pay survivors of abuse, and the power of lawsuits to prompt changes to the organizational culture of Buddhist communities.

Carol Merchasin heads up the legal practice of McAllister Olivarius devoted to survivors of abuse by spiritual teachers. She served as a pro bono legal counsel to Shambhala survivors and the Buddhist Sunshine Project. Damcho and Carol first collaborated as allies to survivors of sexual abuse by Dagri Rinpoche, who was subsequently banned from teaching by the FPMT, the international organization that had hosted and promoted him for over a decade.