One in Four backs calls for age-appropriate sex ed
One in Four has backed calls for sex education for all children after a study showed that unless children disclose they have been abused around the time it happens, there is a risk they will not do so until they are an adult, if at all.
The research reviewed the files of 273 children suspected of having been abused who attended a child sexual abuse centre between 2006 and 2015. It found that more than 60% had been abused by a family member; 30% had been abused for a year; and more than a quarter had been abused 10 or more times.
The research, published in an international journal and involving experts from Dublin City University and the children’s hospitals in Temple Street and Crumlin, states: “The majority of participants did not disclose until at least one month after the abuse onset, while 31.5% disclosed within one month. Overall, children may be more likely to report within the immediate developmental phase but if they do not disclose within this phase, they are less likely to disclose before adulthood, if at all.
“While such efforts need to continue to be targeted at younger children to prevent abuse, given the delays evident in disclosure across different age cohorts in this study it is clear that awareness programmes need to be targeted at children of all ages through both primary and secondary schools to prevent abuse continuing, to prevent other children from being abused and to facilitate access to support where needed.”
“I would absolutely support that view, of giving children age-appropriate information,” said Maeve Lewis, executive director of One In Four, which works with sex abuse victims and perpetrators.
The study noted that many children in the sample are likely to have come into contact with programmes such as Stay Safe and to have a greater awareness of sex abuse than those in previous generations, but Ms Lewis said it is still “dispiriting” that there are high levels of non-disclosure.
She also cited the lack of services such as long psychotherapy waiting lists.
“Our waiting list has been closed since September,” she said. “We’re hoping to open it after Christmas but that is just a hope.”
