The impact Spotlight has made on the child protection movement became even more apparent yesterday when the movie won Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture at the Academy Awards. This is in addition to several other awards claimed by the movie this year. Based on a true story, Spotlight portrays the Boston Globe’s uncovering of the clergy abuse scandal in the early 2000s. It is a powerful film exposing the global concealment and cover-up of sexual abuse by Catholic officials for decades at the expense of children.
While the numerous awards received by Spotlight are accepted by the film’s writers, actors, and producers, these awards are a tribute to the courageous survivors who have helped reveal the horrific problem of child sexual abuse within institutions everywhere. This influential film will hopefully bring about greater awareness and understanding of the impact child sexual abuse has on survivors and result in global efforts to better protect children in the future. Despite the film’s many successes, there’s still a long journey ahead to achieve full transparency and accountability. As stated by produced Michael Sugar, “it’s time to protect the children . . . .”