more sad news

I seem to be having a bit of a bad-news posting blitz lately. And that's despite trying to avoid coverage of sad things :-(

PhD research completed recently on child sexual abuse shows some disturbing findings:

1. It takes victims of child sexual abuse on average 16 years to report the abuse. Less than 4% told immediately
2. Over half of those surveyed were unable to access therapy at some point due to cost.
3. And yet therapy was "somewhat" or "very" helpful to 68% of respondents. In particular those who attended over 50 sessions were more likely to report a large increase in their emotional well-being then those who had attended under 50 sessions.

It makes me immeasurably sad that so many victims of abuse feel unable to tell anyone immediately. They bottle it up inside them and it manifests in unhealthy ways throughout their lives - mental illness, anger, parenting issues later in life.

But it's one of the hidden issues of our society - something we choose to ignore because it is too hard.

It's particularly galling that organisations who do deal with sexual abuse, whether in children or adults, are so often on a funding knife-edge. For example Auckland Sexual Abuse Help, which has been helping children and adults cope with sexual abuse for 25 years, has been at risk in recent months, largely due to bizarre funding decisions by the Government. Corporate sponsors tend to avoid causes such as this and often these services survive due to the goodwill and commitment of their workers, paid and voluntary.

Big ups to those working for ASAH and similar organisations - kia kaha. The strength that you share with others makes our country a better place.