One in Four report - Child victims of sex crimes need support

AS a start, belated though it is, increased support for victims of child abuse and their families is obviously an urgent and crucial necessity as evidenced by the annual report of One in Four.

The report by the charity which looks after such victims reveals the depressing fact that only three in every 1,000 sex crimes against Irish children results in a prosecution.

The fact that there is a low rate of reporting is one of the biggest barriers to child protection, but too often victims and their families are left devastated by the processes and bodies they went to for help.

It is hardly surprising that director Colm O’Gorman called for increased support, and the introduction of mandatory treatment of all sex crime perpetrators as part of court sentencing.

At the moment, treatment is voluntary for convicted offenders and it would involve legislative change to make it mandatory. In the absence of that, offenders should be given an incentive to engage in the process but for that to prove fruitful extra facilities would have to be provided.

It is vital, as Colm O’Gorman said, that the criminal justice system must work to encourage and enable the reporting of child abuse, rather than simply manage the small percentage of cases now reported.