Manuela charity: No service for abused children

THERE are no dedicated medical services for children who experience sexual abuse here and those that do exist are under-resourced and limited by lack of equipment and facilities, it has been claimed.

A spokesman for the Manuela Riedo Foundation, set up by the parents of the murdered Swiss girl to lobby for reform in the health and legal systems here, said it had been contacted by six eminent Irish doctors who wanted to help them in their fight.

Brendan McGuinness said he had been contacted by doctors who worked in the field of sexual assault, expressing their desire to improve services here and to train medical students to be equipped to deal with sexual assault. He said doctors felt their “hands were tied” by the health system.