Protecting children: Must do more

WE cannot pretend to be unaware of the life-long impact a sexual assault on a child can have. 

Report after report, scandal after scandal all underline how traumatic such terrible exploitation can be and how long that impact can last.

Despite that reality, a children’s therapy service has warned that limited services compound the trauma faced by families forced to deal with child sexual abuse.

Like many areas of our health service, the specialists working in this area are struggling to cope with increasing demands.

The country’s six Sexual Assault Treatment Units treat only children older than 14, while the Child and Adolescent Sexual Assault Treatment Services in Galway can treat children of any age under 16. That service treated 73 children in 2015, compared to 64 in 2014. Three were aged one, six were aged two, seven were aged three and 11 were aged four.

There are endless demands on the public purse. There is a growing acceptance that we need to spend more on our health services too but this area should be prioritised.