ISPCC calls for national strategy to fight child sex abuse and exploitation

The One in Four report launched last Thursday found that 40% of people know someone who was sexually abused as a child, while more than 90% of respondents believe society had failed to address child sexual abuse. File picture

The ISPCC is calling on the government to develop a national strategy for child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation and online risks to child safety, following a “seminal” week in relation to child safety.

The organisation’s head of policy and public affairs, Fiona Jennings, said the One in Four report launched last Thursday, the PrimeTime investigation into the Christian Brothers aired on Thursday night and the recent publication of the Grace report highlight the need for such a strategy, as recommended in a report from the Garda Siochana Inspectorate in 2017.

The Irish Attitudes to Tackling Child Sexual Abuse launched by One in Four on Thursday found that 40% of people know someone who was sexually abused as a child, while more than 90% of respondents believe society had failed to address child sexual abuse.

“Is this the moment that we will finally see this acted upon? This research (in the One in Four report) speaks to the need for a whole-of-society approach, it speaks to the need for one for not just child sexual exploitation offline but it also speaks to the online element as well. 

"Eight years later, we still don’t have this recommendation in place, and we don’t have to stray too far just to see how vulnerable victims and survivors of child sexual abuse have been treated,” said Ms Jennings.

She said a national strategy would bring together all the different agencies and individuals who have expertise in different areas relating to child sexual abuse.

She also said there is a need for an audit of Ireland’s laws and guidelines in the area to “ensure that our laws and policies are fit for purpose”.

She added: “I firmly believe that child sexual abuse is the last taboo that Ireland needs to tackle in a meaningful way. 

We have tackled divorce, we have tackled marriage equality, we have tackled reproductive rights. Now is the time that we need to tackle child sexual abuse. 

"If Thursday’s report was not that seminal turning point, then I really worry as to what we actually do need.” 

The One in Four report was published on the same day as the PrimeTime documentary on the Christian Brothers, which revealed that two members who were senior leaders of the order over the space of two decades and managed the congregation's assets are now convicted child sexual abusers.

Last Tuesday, the general solicitor for minors and wards of court, Marie-Claire Butler, claimed none of the "extensive" submissions made on behalf of the woman known as Grace were included "in any way" in the final report of the Farrelly Commission. 

The commission was tasked with examining allegations of abuse and severe neglect while she was in a foster home in the southeast over a 20-year period.

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While it found that Grace, who is now in her 40s and who is severely intellectually disabled, had been neglected and there was a lack of oversight for her care, the commission was not satisfied the evidence established she had been subjected to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.

Citing the One in Four report, the Christian Brothers documentary and the Grace report, Ms Jennings said: “What do we actually need to do in order to get our policy makers to act?” The ISPCC will now be contacting the government to seek the implementation of such a strategy."

She added: “It is something that should be coordinated from the Department of the Taoiseach.”