Three alarming reports in News Ltd papers about child on child sexual abuse. More children are exhibiting problem sexual behaviour including assault of other children.
Story 1: Children sexually abusing children ‘ignored and denied’Teachers and childcare workers have raised the alarm over an increase in children coercing other children into sexual acts.
The widespread increase, with some children involved as young as three, is creating a “hidden population” of abuse victims.
A report by the Australian Crime Commission’s National Indigenous Intelligence Task Force has lifted the lid on a culture of “confusion, denial and non-disclosure” among child protection authorities, which it says have failed to keep pace with increasingly sexualised and sexually abusive behaviour in children.
The report, released this month, estimates that between 40 per cent and 90 per cent of sexual offending against children was committed by other children, “a fact that continues to go largely unknown”…
The report reinforces escalating concern among child protection advocates over an increase in sexually aggressive behaviour in children, as young people become exposed to sexual and pornographic images.
Bernadette McMenamin, the founder of the child protection charity Child Wise, said: “Everyone who works with children will testify that sexualised behaviours in children have definitely increased.
“There are disinhibitors around. We are a much more open society than we were before.”
The report, undertaken by ACC research fellow Wendy O’Brien in the past 18 months and the second in a two-part series, examined the responses of authorities in the health, child protection, education and juvenile justice sectors to sexualised and sexually offending behaviour in children.
It revealed a critical shortage of therapy available for children who exhibit sexually abusive behaviour. Only young people who entered the juvenile justice system were readily able to access social support. Outside the criminal justice system, there was only one therapeutic residential unit in the country – catering for six adolescents.
The report says childcare workers are increasingly concerned about how to respond to sexualised behaviour in very young children, and that there has been a “substantial increase in children coercing other children into sexual acts”…Read story here
CHILD protection advocates are being inundated with requests for advice on how to handle sexually abusive behaviour in children.
Responding to an Australian Crime Commission report that lifted the lid on a culture of “confusion, denial and non-disclosure” of sexualised and sexually abusive behaviour in children, the Australian Childhood Foundation said there had been a tenfold increase in demand for its therapeutic services.
The foundation runs a program in Victoria for children aged between seven and 12 years that exhibit problem sexual behaviour, in which social workers and psychologists work with the families and carers of the children.
Ten years ago, when the program started, it was attracting about 10 referrals a year. Now it attracts more than 150.
The ACC report estimated that between 40 per cent and 90 per cent of sexual offending against children was committed by other children, and called for a drastic increase in therapeutic services for young people displaying sexually aggressive behaviour…Read more.
A DISTURBING trend of Queensland schoolchildren sexually assaulting each other is being swept under the carpet by authorities, a child development expert claims.
Professor Freda Briggs, an adviser to the Federal Government’s Safe School Framework, said she knew of at least 10 cases of sex assaults by children against other children in Queensland schools in 2008-09 and claimed many of the cases were not taken seriously by authorities.
“Five-year-olds just starting school are at risk of violent abuse by older children in school toilets,” she said.
“The cases I am aware of have been swept under the carpet and victims have to leave the schools while the perpetrators remain.” Read more
These latest reports further demonstrate why we must urgently address sexualised imagery and the widespread pornification of culture. If not, the problem will get worse, with shocking long term negative physical and mental health outcomes for children. One positive step you can take today is to sign up to Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation. Also support Kids Free 2 B Kids, Beth Mitchell’s Stop adult magazines being sold at convenience stores and Say No for Kids. Ask your candidate what they are doing to address this – and tell them you won’t support them unless they promise to act.
10 Responses
Thank you for your work Melinda. This report comes as no surprise to those of us who have been in constant contact with professionals who work at the coal face with children and teens. It is a disturbing trend and one that the pornification of culture and premature sexualisation contributes to. (for anyone who thinks to the contrary, I repeat – it ‘contributes’..it is of course not the only factor) This is widely recognised by those professionals.
I think it is sad that there are still many who seemingly need convincing that this is an issue or problem for our children.
Kids are living in a ‘Kidulthood’ state where they don’t have the freedom to live like a child or think like a child. Children are being targeted by culture, advertisers, marketers and seeing imagery which is impacting their young minds.
Julie Gale and Melinda – appreciate what you and others do for our children.
Children are precious….some of us think so and will keep fighting to prove so.
The Australian Childhood Foundation has pioneered therapeutic programs for children as young as seven years old who engage in problem sexual behaviour with other children (Staiger, 2005; Staiger et al, 2005).
Whilst the problem behaviour of a significant proportion of these children can be traced back to histories of abuse, neglect and disruption, it is Tucci and Goddard’s clinical experience that approximately 20% of this population of children have evolved this behaviour without prior experiences to trauma.
“In these circumstances, a contributing factor to the genesis of problem sexual behaviour is the increasing volume of sexualised imagery and themes available in popular culture and accessible to children.”
Without access to explanatory frameworks for understanding these themes, children can engage in behaviour which enables them to test often distorted beliefs about sexuality. In doing so, they harm other children and complicate their own developmental trajectories.
(Joint submission to the senate inquiry into the sexualisation of children in the contemporary media environment. April 18 2008. Dr Joe Tucci and Professor Chris Goddard.)
In my local store, which is opposite a Primary School, the first thing a child sees directly in front of them as they open the door is porn. It sits about 1/2 metre from the floor. Just above are the chocolate bars, just below are the local papers, and just to the right, the ice cream freezer. Of course, this isn’t unique to my milkbar, but sadly (and infuriatingly) our classification laws allow for this type of display. Since starting the Say No 4 Kids campaign, I’ve also had many educators and parents tell me of the alarming increase in child on child sexual assault, and in every instance, their schools have failed to respond appropriately. Melinda/Julie, do you know if schools are supposed to have a child/child sexual harassment policy? If not, this could be something to follow up with the Minister for Education. In the meantime, reducing the exposure of young children to adult sexualised imagery will surely make a big difference.
Collective Shout has a campaign called ‘get porn out of corner stores.’ Convenience stores and service stations where people of all ages frequent, are no place for pornography.
This issue was illustrated for me the other day as I went to pay for petrol at my local BP servo. A line of school children were waiting to pay for lollies, soft drinks and bakery items beside ralph magazine, zoo magazine etc. with highly sexualised images coupled with degrading and sexist captions.
How can we expect the next generation to grow up with a healthy view of each other if what they learn about women is that they are ‘sex toys?’ It’s no wonder that children are acting out against each other, it’s to be expected given what they are learning from their environment.
You may be interested in this relevant news piece:
More girls developing breasts by age 7 – US study
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/more-girls-developing-breasts-by-age-7-us-study/story-e6frfku0-1225903242912#ixzz0w9UN128B
I was searching for information on child sexual abuse when I came across your post. I have experience with child sexual abuse when I was around 7 years old, from my cousin who was around 15. I never really thought of him as a kid himself, until I came across your post. Basically, when I was a kid, he might as well have been an adult from my perspective.
I also thought the issue of pornographic material being somehow related to instances of child sexual abuse to be intriguing. I know in my case that the perpetrator in question was exposed to pornography, but the strange thing is I don’t know if anyone first exposed him to pornography, or if he himself, as a result of curiosity or some other motivator, pursued pornographical material. It’s difficult for me to say that pictures of naked people are evil per se, despite having been sexually abused myself, basically because I know that there are people who have looked at pornography, or look at pornography, who do not sexually abuse children. I guess it’s just the same problem of correlation not being the same as causation.
Anyway, thanks for the post. It gave me a perspective on my own traumatizing experience, and it is appreciated.
My daughter is five, and recently molested at school by an older boy of the age of seven or eight. I immediately removed her and her brother from the school as this had not been the first instance of similar issues to children at this school (never mine)
I cannot have the child charged as he is under ten (VICTORIAN LAW?) My children loved their teachers and thier friends, and they have had to be removed.
The school refuses to aknowledge the situation. I have had to employ a solicitor who is hitting his head against a brick wall. I have my daughter seeing a psycholigist and even thou its been a month it feels like yesterday.
The mother of the offender obtained my address and sent a damning letter to me saying the offence never happened etc. I dont know what to do. Where is my daughters justice? More importantly that child is still at that school possibly capab;e of doing it again.