Vol. 471 No. 2
31 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health his views regarding the increase in child sex abuse in the Southern Health Board area; and if he will make available statistics from other health boards in this country. [17383/96]
All health boards reported increases in the number of child abuse cases being reported last year. The main reason for the increase in the reporting of child sexual abuse can be put down to an increased public awareness of this tragic problem, which has been heightened by media coverage of specific child abuse cases. In addition, the heightened public awareness has been complemented by an improved ability on the part of health boards to respond to families in crisis as a result of the recruitment of additional staff and the putting in place of extra resources to underpin the implementation of the Child Care Act over the last number of years. These additional staff and resources have ensured a more systematic follow-up and recording of suspected cases of child abuse.
The highest percentage increase in reports of child sexual abuse occurred in the Southern Health Board area in 1995. There were 289 reported cases of child sexual abuse in 1995 compared with 166 in 1994 which represented an increase of 74 per cent. Of the total number of cases reported in 1995, 73 or 25 per cent of the total were confirmed compared with 32 or 19 per cent of the total in 1994. The rate of confirmed cases of child sexual abuse in the Southern Health Board area at 25 per cent was, therefore, lower than the national average of confirmed cases which was 31 per cent in 1995.
The following table gives annual figures for the number of reported and confirmed cases of child sexual abuse for the years 1994 and 1995 in each of the health boards.
Reports of Child Sexual Abuse.
|
1994 Reports |
1995 Reports |
|||
|
Health Board |
Received |
Confirmed |
Received |
Confirmed |
|
East |
709 |
223 |
863 |
264 |
|
Midland |
217 |
66 |
249 |
68 |
|
Mid-West |
156 |
38 |
208 |
64 |
|
North-East |
158 |
71 |
201 |
71 |
|
North-West |
68 |
17 |
100 |
39 |
|
South-East |
210 |
82 |
339 |
156 |
|
South |
166 |
32 |
289 |
73 |
|
West |
132 |
28 |
192 |
30 |
|
Received |
Confirmed |
|
|
1994 |
1,816 |
557 |
|
1995 |
2,441 |
765 |
