NEWS BRIEFS

SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time, the Mormon church is sending out a survey to the religion’s 62,000 missionaries to gauge safety conditions for young men and women serving proselytizing missions around the world, the church said Monday.

The confidential online survey wasn’t triggered by one particular incident or a decrease in missionary safety, but rather a desire to assess conditions amid a changing world landscape, said Eric Hawkins, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Results will be used to potentially modify safety guidelines or mission assignments. The survey will include questions asking missionaries if they’ve endured physical threats such as being robbed or attacked and whether they’ve experienced any form of sexual harassment.

Until now, safety guidelines have been based on feedback from mission presidents about what they observe in their areas.

“This survey is to help us better understand the day-to-day experiences and perceptions of missionaries around the world related to physical safety,” Hawkins said.

Men serve for two years while women serve for 18 months in missions that are considered rites of passage in the Utah-based religion that counts nearly 16 million members worldwide.

One missionary has died this year, Hawkins said. Four died in 2016, and six in 2015, church figures show.

Missionaries are taught basic guidelines to keep safe, and told to rely on their best judgment and to stay away from unsafe areas.

The church guidelines also advise missionaries to rely on their faith.