I thank the Chairman for the invitation to speak. My name is Maeve Lewis and beside me is my colleague Ms Deirdre Kenny, who is our director of advocacy. Everyone present in this room shares a common objective, namely, to ensure this legislation in its final form helps to make Ireland a safer place for children. At present, Ireland does not have an effective child protection system. Research shows that in cases of adult rape, one in 40 instances of rape ends up in a conviction. In the case of child sexual abuse, we estimate that one in 80 cases of child sexual abuse ends up in a conviction. If one thinks about this, this means that out of every 80 sex offenders, one person ends up convicted of the crime. This means many very dangerous people are walking around this country with impunity, who are free to continue abusing children. The current system of criminal justice simply does not work as a child protection measure. This makes the work undertaken by the joint committee this morning very important indeed.
At One in Four, we work with all aspects of sexual violence. We provide counselling and advocacy services for adults who have been sexually abused in childhood and we also offer a treatment programme to sex offenders. Each year, we work with almost 1,000 people. The majority of our clients have been abused within the family and in their neighbourhoods. Fewer than 30% of them were abused within the Catholic Church. Through our clients, we have learned a great deal about sexual abuse. We know the impact of sexual abuse reverberates right throughout a person's life and we understand the suffering that lies behind all the statistics we produce. Therefore, child protection is at the centre of what we do and we are deeply committed to ensuring that today's children are not abused but are safe from sexual harm. We always work within the Children First guidance. We have developed a wide experience in helping clients to negotiate the complex terrain between their personal experiences of sexual abuse and engaging with the statutory services, which they often must do. We hope our observations this morning, based on that experience, may be of value.
As have the other organisations, we broadly welcome this legislation. First, we are pleased that victims of sexual crime will be excluded from the requirement to report to the Garda. We believe this would place an intolerable burden on an already vulnerable population. Second, we welcome the fact that a victim's wish that a report not be made is included as a "reasonable excuse" not to report. However, we suggest that an exception to this should be if the victim still is a child. We do not believe any child is in a position to make an informed choice about something so serious.
Any adult who is in possession of information about a child who currently is being abused should be obliged to make that report. The possible exception to this may be when abuse is occurring within the family. We know from our work with sex offenders that the non-offending family members often are extremely torn between their loyalty to the sex offender and concern for the child. A disclosure of sexual abuse can go off like a bombshell in such a family, perhaps further endangering the children. Consequently, we wonder whether criminalising the wife of a perpetrator, who wonders about reporting her husband to the Garda, would be in the best interest of the child. We suggest that in that instance, perhaps the HSE expert services may be the people to engage first with the family and provide the support that may ultimately allow the Garda to become involved. We also are anxious to ensure this legislation will encompass abuse that has taken place in the past. Many of our clients have been abused ten, 20, 30 or 40 years ago but the man who may have sexually abused his daughters may still be abusing grandchildren and we suggest the passage of time does not mean the offender is no longer a risk to children.
We believe that introducing legislation that will make it a crime to withhold information from the Garda will not make a major contribution to child protection unless the implications of increased reporting to the Garda are considered and taken into account. At One in Four, we operate a mandatory reporting policy. All allegations and concerns are passed to the HSE child protection services. However, we work with a group of people who are distressed and vulnerable and who have reached out for help to deal with the effects of sexual abuse on their lives. We must balance the needs of that group to access resources with the need to protect children and I am sure the last thing anyone present wishes to do is to make people afraid to come forward and to further silence victims. Our clients usually are initially reluctant to make that report to the HSE. They fear, with good reason, the reaction of their families, neighbours and so on. Ultimately, however, with the skilled support we offer, 95% of our clients agree to engage with the HSE, to make that report and be interviewed by a social worker. Moreover, we believe that reporting concerns without the co-operation of the victim is next to useless because they rarely can be investigated.
We welcome the intention of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to place the Children First guidance on a statutory footing. We estimate that at present, approximately 10% of the notifications we make to the HSE are investigated. In view of their historic nature, they do not take priority. On the other hand, when we report to the Garda, those allegations are investigated seriously. However, if the numbers reporting to the Garda rise on foot of this legislation, we wonder whether the same thing will happen and whether many allegations will not be investigated at all. At One in Four, we understand it is a very serious decision for our clients to report to the Garda. People typically are afraid they will not be believed and of the public exposure that might ensue. We see absolutely no point in reporting allegations to the Garda against the wishes of the victims. Each year at present, approximately 30% of clients make that report to the Garda.
The feedback our clients give us about the criminal justice system may be of interest. The vast majority of our clients find their engagement with the Garda and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to be respectful, sensitive and professional, even when the clients are not happy with the outcome of the case. However, most of our clients tell us that had they known the ordeal they would face in the criminal justice system, they would never have made a complaint in the first place. We know that prosecuting sexual crimes presents formidable legal challenges, particularly where the cases are historic. However, when the trial process itself becomes a barrier to reporting, I suggest it is beyond time for the criminal justice system to be reviewed with regard to sexual crimes.
We know from experience that the HSE child protection services can often intervene where there is a substantial allegation but insufficient evidence to substantiate a criminal prosecution. This makes it vital that the Garda and HSE work closely together so a genuine safety network that means something is created. Therefore, we believe the Criminal Justice (withholding information on crimes against children and vulnerable adults) Bill and the proposed Children First legislation must intersect seamlessly and we urge committee members to take this into consideration in their deliberations and recommendations.
If we have learned anything from the various reports of the past decade and the reports that are due later this morning, it is that silence and secrecy have endangered children. Everybody wants Ireland to be a place where children grow up safe from sexual harm. Therefore, we welcome the Bill and see it as a very important element of the child protection framework that is being created. We hope this Bill, together with the Children First legislation, will create and foster a culture where every adult in this country will see it as being his or her responsibility to ensure children grow up without being victims of sexual abuse.