‘Make sex abusers undergo therapy’
Charity One in Four said there was a “dearth” of facilities to help rehabilitate sex offenders, who at present voluntarily decide therapy.
But charity director Maeve Lewis said therapy must be made mandatory for offenders.
“If offender treatment programmes were available and accessible throughout the country, more people would seek help before they got into a cycle of offending.
“Most of us when we think about sexual offenders feel revulsion and incomprehension as to why it is they do what they do. Most of us desire they be punished, locked away. The harsh facts are that a prison sentence on its own does not protect children.”
Ms Lewis said international research showed with appropriate treatment, reoffending rates fell to below 2%.
Last year, One in Four was contacted for the first time by clients worried about their thoughts and behaviour, who wanted treatment. Up to 15 people went through the charity’s perpetrator assessment and treatment programme.
Unlike previous years where most victims who sought help from the charity had been abused by the clergy, the majority of those seeking help in 2007 were victims of abuse perpetrated by family members or people close to them.
“It is even more challenging to accept that most children who were abused were in their own homes or in the neighbourhood where they should feel safe,” she added.
The charity reported that 3% of its victims were abused by female perpetrators, who included mothers and a nun. A total of 5,192 psychotherapy sessions were given by the charity and it received nearly four million hits on its website.
Nearly 60% of its 258 clients who received one-to-one therapy were male. One in Four want increased support for abuse victims who attend trials and also insist a referendum is the only way to properly address children’s rights.
Launching the report yesterday, Children’s Minister Barry Andrews would not indicate if a referendum was on the cards. But he did say legislative change would be needed to protect children.
This might also address the issue of “soft” information on suspected offenders, depending on recommendations from an Oireachtas committee in November.
“It’s not a simple matter of putting something into the constitution that’s going to wave a magic wand,” he said.
ONE victim of abuse tells her story about trying to survive the process of prosecuting her abuser. From the cold benches in a court room alone, she found it hard to keep up hope.
Geraldine, in her 40s, is going through a long court case after being abused when she was a young girl. The volunteer worker, who lives in Leinster, says her life crumbled without access to help or therapy.
She says the ‘system’ itself abused her when it came to prosecuting her male perpetrator. It was only after she met other victims of the man that she began to access help with One in Four.
“I felt I was abused by the system. I feel very strongly that the system has to change. And the system has to give people like me more rights.”
Geraldine says there should be full-time Garda liaison officers who handle abuse cases in the courts, a dedicated officer for suspected abuser hearings.
“They could give you advice because the emotional upheaval is huge,” she says.
“The minute you go into the gardaí to make a statement, you’re in a horrible room. There should be a place where you can be brought, relax and have a cup of tea.”
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