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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Apr 1995

Vol. 451 No. 7

Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Child Sexual Abuse.

Liz O'Donnell

Ceist:

8 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Health the facilities currently provided by the Eastern Health Board for a therapeutic and assessment service for young sexual offenders; the research, if any, which has been carried out by his Department into the level of child abuse perpetrated by young male adolescents; the percentage of offenders represented by this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6739/95]

The primary focus of the health boards in the area of child sexual abuse relates to the provision of appropriate assessment, support and therapeutic services for the unfortunate victims of such abuse.

Arising out of the work being undertaken in this area, it has emerged that a significant proportion of child sexual abuse is being perpetrated by adolescents. In response to this, services targeted at adolescent abusers are beginning to be developed. In the Dublin area, the Northside Inter-Agency Project made up of staff from Temple Street and the Mater Hospitals and the Eastern Health Board, operates a treatment programme for adolescent abusers. The programme, based on a groupwork model, involves weekly sessions over the course of a year and requires the active involvement of parents. I understand that the experience of the programme has been very successful and it is hoped that it will deter these adolescents from further involvement in child abuse.

I should also mention that additional funding has recently been provided to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin to develop a therapeutic service for children affected by child sexual abuse. As part of the new service, which is multi-disciplinary in nature, and involves close liaison with other relevant agencies, the hospital intends to develop a programme aimed at adolescent perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

I welcome the Minister's positive response. Is the Minister aware that between one-third and one-half of all child cases in the United States and in the United Kingdom are perpetrated by adolescents and that the small amount of research done here indicates that the profile of offenders here is no different? Would he agree that money would be well spent on extra resources to intervene in a multi-disciplinary way with this type of offender at an early stage, perhaps after the first allegation of abuse against an adolescent, before the abusive behaviour becomes fixated and progressively addictive?

I can confirm that there is reason for major concern. The Department of Health commissioned a research project which found that in 20 per cent of confirmed cases of child sexual abuse known to the Eastern Health Board in 1988 the perpetrators were under 15 years of age, and in a further 16 per cent of cases the perpetrators were aged between 16 and 20 years. In other words, in approximately one-third of cases the abuser was an adolescent. A survey carried out around the same time north of the Border found that the situation was similar there.

There are some particularly worrying aspects. One is that much of the abuse is of a harmful nature, not merely sexual experimentation as some people have wrongly assumed in the past. In addition, research abroad strongly suggests that therapy provided for adolescent sex offenders pays big dividends in terms of prevention. I was very concerned indeed to note that most sex offenders begin their abusive career in their teens, and it has been estimated that if untreated they will commit an average of 380 offences each. That is a very worrying figure and underlines the necessity for the concern which we in the Department have about this matter.

What financial resources are currently being provided for the Department's preventive strategy, and what is the allocation of social workers, psychiatrists etc? I am glad the Minister has read the research and is aware of the problem. Would he agree that the research challenges the classic profile of the child abuser as a middle aged dirty old man and that it is important that society at large should realise that this is a problem which affects adolescents, that children barely past childhood can be primary child abusers? Will the Minister report back to the House on the success of the ongoing programme and indicate if he will be supportive of allocating more resources to this preventive strategy?

I agree that the question and the reply underline the Deputy's point in regard to the involvement of adolescents in sexual abuse in contrast to the picture that is usually painted. Quite a great amount of financial resources have been put into this in recent years. We are pleased with the Northside Inter-Agency Project. Additional money has been given to Temple Street Children's Hospital and Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. In the past year Our Lady's Hospital has received additional funding of £130,000 to create extra posts. I will continue to monitor the situation carefully and do whatever is necessary within the resources which are available.

This matter is extremely important. I agree with Deputy O'Donnell that public awareness generally about adolescent sex offenders is not very high. The statistics are quite staggering. The Minister rightly points out that most of the resources to date have gone towards work with victims of child sexual abuse. I call very strongly for more resources for the treatment of offenders, particularly young offenders who can respond to treatment, as international studies have shown.

The Minister mentioned the Northside Inter-Agency Project. Will that project get ongoing support? Can it be developed in the rest of the city to ensure that that kind of treatment is available throughout Dublin and also outside the county? This pilot project certainly should be extended outside the city. The services for young adolescent offenders are grossly under-developed at the moment and I ask the Minister to ensure that they get attention in future. We have responded to the needs of victims. We now have to try to put in place services for offenders, particularly young offenders, because there is more hope of a good outcome for them than for adult offenders.

I have explained to the House the activities of the Northside Inter-Agency Project about which the Deputy is very aware. The emphasis there is on treatment of the offender and, as I said, such treatment pays big dividends. In view of the startling figure of 380 offences by each offender, the least we can expect from remedying that is a saving of money. The information I have about the Northside Inter-Agency Project underlines the valuable contribution it is making. In that context I will consider strongly what support can be given to it.

I do not know if Question Time is the time for anecdotes but the figures remind me of when I first became aware of the fact that one in five children experience abuse in their lifetime. I immediately wondered if that meant that one in five men are abusers and was informed that this was not the case but that a small number of abusers abuse a very large number of children in their lifetime. The figures presented by the Minister testify to that.

Are there statistics as to what proportion of young abusers were themselves victims of abuse? Many of us received documentation today from CARI outlining a case study of child abuse of a nine year-old which, if it occurs, awakens interest in sexual activity much earlier than is normal.

While I agree with my colleagues on the importance of programmes for offenders, programmes for victims are seriously under-resourced. There is a need for extra resources. Does the Minister of State have any statistics of the proportion of offenders who were the victims of abuse?

I do not have any specific information on the number who were the victims of abuse. I suspect we would find there is a correlation between the two. I will look into the matter.

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