Researchers count the ways children are abused
in bid to uncover economic cost
in bid to uncover economic cost
This is great news. I'm certain the full economic cost of child abuse is far more significant than most governments believe. I hope and pray they do an excellent job. I wish all countries would do this research.
PHOTO: Researchers hope the study will be the first reliable estimate of the prevalence and co-occurrence of all five forms of child maltreatment. (Pexels)
Australia - A study examining the links between various forms of child abuse — from emotional and physical abuse to sexual assault and neglect — hopes to uncover patterns of offending as well as the financial cost to the community.
Detrimental health outcomes across the lifespan of victims, including mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse and chronic illness, will be examined in a bid to highlight the economic and long-term cost of child abuse.
Thousands of people will be interviewed for the anonymous study in an Australian-first with child welfare advocates hoping the findings will force the government to invest in prevention measures.
Led by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Professor Ben Mathews, the $2.3 million study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, will interview 10,000 people over a five-year period in conjunction with a team of international researchers.
Professor Mathews said there were hundreds of vile child abuse cases documented through the courts but researchers were also looking at cases that were never reported to authorities.
"Child maltreatment happens behind closed doors, no one normally gets to know about it and the child is left to try and deal with it and suffer it in silence," he said.
"It is very important because at the moment Australia does not have bench mark data on how many children experience all forms of maltreatment.
"As a result of that we do not know how common the problem is, which kids are most at risk and how we can best help those kids.
"We expect to find quiet a substantial incidence of child maltreatment. And we think we will find a certain group of kids actually suffer multiple forms of maltreatment."
Of course you will. And you will find that even mild forms of abuse, when coupled with other forms of abuse, result in trauma that may severely affect the victim for a lifetime.
Professor Mathews said the study will be the first reliable estimate of the prevalence and co-occurrence of all five forms of child maltreatment: sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence, and other major childhood adversities.
"The study will also identify the location, frequency, severity and timing of these experiences and the child's relationship to the person who inflicted them," he said.
Co-researcher Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Professor James Scott said many children fell through the cracks. "I think people will be very concerned about how common child maltreatment is," he said.
He believed severe emotional neglect or abuse could do just as much harm as sexual abuse of a child.
"I see children in my clinic who are told every day 'you're stupid, you are hopeless, you will come to nothing' and that really steals them of their sense of self-worth," he said. "And it really hampers their ability to thrive.
"There has been such a focus on sexual abuse and physical abuse, but we often forget out the impact of emotional abuse and it is enormously damaging."
He said it was easy to blame "bad parents" but he does not like that term. "I don't think parents set out to harm children," Professor Scott said.
"I think these are parents who are overwhelmed and struggling and often do not have the skills and knowledge and resources to support their children. No-one likes to say 'I am not coping with my child', well it is a really brave thing to say."
Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston said she believed the high cost of abuse may shock the government into acting. (ABC News: Alison Branley)
Cost of abuse could run into billions of dollars
Professor Mathew said he anticipates the study will show the cost of abuse to the community will run into billions of dollars.
"The long-term aim is to turn people's lives around with better prevention and better public health," he said.
Child abuse prevention advocate Hetty Johnston said the study will be an insight into what is going on in the suburbs. "There is a lot of ways you can destroy a childhood and parents everywhere have found those ways," she said.
Ms Johnston said she believed the high cost of abuse may shock the government into acting. "The moral issue, the tragedy, sadly does not move them. It is all about the money and all about being re-elected. It won't be the pain and suffering that will do that — it will be the dollars."
A sorry, but true commentary on our times.
Allan Allaway was violently abused at Neerkol orphanage as a child. (ABC News: Lexy Hamilton-Smith)
Allan Allaway was violently abused at Neerkol Orphanage as a child.
"I have still got scars on my body," he said. "It is something that never leaves you.
"You try your damnedest to get past it. But then you will hear something, see something. It is like a soldier returning from war with PTSD. We have had to live with that all our lives and it is unjust.
"Because of what I experienced as a nameless, faceless, voiceless, innocent little kid, you can't form relationships.
"That is a cruel burden to carry. We did not ask to be born but we are the ones paying the price."
It's always the children who pay the price.
Mr Allaway said the study was long overdue, but would hopefully be healing for victims.
"And maybe then you can all get some peace."
Ottawa establishing investigation unit, national toll-free helpline to address abuse in sport
This is a good step in the right direction. I'm not sure it's completely in the right direction, but, at least, it's a significant step and a recognition that something needs to be done.
See my strong concerns at the bottom of this article.
Devin Heroux and Lori Ward · CBC News
One month after a CBC News and Sports investigation revealed at least 222 coaches involved in amateur sports over 20 years have been convicted of sexual offences, Minister of Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan announced more initiatives to end what she calls "dirty secrets" in the country's athletic landscape.
Last month, Minister of Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan outlined initiatives in Ottawa to deal with abuse and harassment in sport. (Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press)
On Wednesday afternoon, Duncan introduced an investigation unit for national sport organizations, multi-sport service organizations and Canadian sport centres. She says it will be an independent unit sports groups can call in to investigate all alleged incidents of harassment, abuse and discrimination.
The minister also announced a national toll-free confidential helpline for victims and witnesses of abuse in sport.
"Since day one I've made ending abuse in sport my priority. These are another two measures in a long line of measures to protect our athletes," Duncan told CBC. "Now these sport groups can reach out to the investigative unit at any time and ask them to do an investigation."
The third-party investigation unit has been set up through the established Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. This is an independent centre available to members of the national sport community and will take on new duties to help resolve sport disputes.
The new pilot service to help facilitate investigations will ensure sport organizations are not investigating their own members, the minister said.
"What we've heard from our athletes is they need a safe place. They don't always feel comfortable going to the sport organization for fear of retribution," Duncan said.
"My greatest concern is that power differential. My whole life has been sport — athlete, coach and judge. When I am coaching my number one priority is the health and safety of my athletes."
Marc-André Fabien, president of Canadian Paralympic Committee, praised the new initiatives.
"The Canadian Paralympic Committee commends Minister Duncan for her work to provide safeguards for athletes and participants at all levels of sport and we stand behind these new measures," Fabrien said in a statement. "These new processes are critical towards combatting harassment, abuse, and discrimination in sport."
Helpline a 'safe place'
The helpline will be available to anyone seven days a week, 12 hours a day and will be answered by psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors.
"This will be a safe place for people to go to be able to voice their concerns in a safe manner," Duncan said.
"That number will be available to everyone. Victims, athletes, witnesses of abuse. There can be no bystander effect," she said.
The minister says the helpline will provide advice about what steps to take next, whether that's going to police, child protection services or to an existing provincial or territorial resource.
"If someone sees a child being harmed in any way, none of us can stand by. We have to act," said Duncan.
She adds the helpline can also be used by people to simply speak in confidence to a neutral third party to get the help they need. It serves as a professional listening and referral service.
"The only thing I care about is to make sure our athletes are protected so they can do what they love. Everyone should have a safe, quality experience. Sport gives you so much. It was always my refuge. It was the place I went to feel rejuvenated. It should be that way for every child," Duncan said.
Duncan is a former gymnast who turned to coaching and judging.
The minister's department plans a social media campaign to ensure sport programs across Canada have access to the toll-free number, which is: 1-888-83-SPORT.
"We've been working with the provinces and territories, sport organizations, and of course, it all starts with the athletes. My goal is to put our athletes and children at the centre of everything we do in sport," Duncan said.
CBC's investigation into sexual offences
Calls for action followed an investigation by CBC News and Sports that revealed at least 222 coaches involved in amateur sports over 20 years have been convicted of sex offences involving over 600 victims under age 18.
The CBC News and Sports investigation involved searching through thousands of court records and media articles, and visiting courthouses across Canada. What emerged, for the first time, was a detailed database of sexual offences committed by amateur athletic coaches.
The charges include offences such as sexual assault, sexual exploitation, child luring, and making or possessing child pornography. Most, but not all, of the victims were athletes training with a coach; in all cases, the accused was charged between 1998 and 2018, but the offences may have occurred earlier.
Wednesday's announcement follows a number of initiatives announced by Minister Duncan in the last month including safe sport summits geared at developing a national code of conduct.
So grateful to CBC for investigating this area and making known the level of child sex abuse in sports in Canada. It should have been a government initiative, as I have been calling for for years, but, at least, someone has done it, and the government responded.
I'm grateful for the government response but I am concerned that it seems to put a layer between victims of abuse and the police. Anyone aware of child sex abuse should immediately call the police, not a counsellor or a 3rd party investigative body. Being part of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre, has me very concerned that the unit will consider the effect of reporting to police on the sport in question, when that should never be a consideration.
I hope, and pray, that somewhere down the road, we do not have lawsuits because sex abuse or child sex abuse was 'resolved' in the interests of the sports organizations. The police need to be brought in whenever there is abuse suspected, and they need to be brought in quickly.
There are many other areas where children congregate, and where children congregate there will be paedophiles. Where there is honey, there will be flies - as they say in Russia. Canada is still in need of a comprehensive investigation into institutions where children are present, whether juvenile detention centres, churches, schools, orphanages, even foster parenting. We've only uncovered one corner of this horrible issue; the rest needs to be uncovered before children will be safe in this country.
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