IN RESPONSE to the current debate on child sexual abuse (CSA) in Australia, readers might be interested to know that:
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* For every CSA notification there are at least nine other victims that are never notified.
* For every paedophile who is identified and prosecuted there are at least nine other paedophiles who are not identified.
* For every act of CSA admitted to by an offender, there are at least nine other acts of CSA that remain unknown.
In my opinion, the primary reason why CSA continues to increase in Australia is because:
* The community generally does not know enough about the problem, hence –
* Politicians do not get elected on the basis of doing anything about this issue, hence –
* The resources required to deal with the problem will never by provided by governments.
For a better society, we must demand and be prepared to meet the cost of effective actions that will protect our children.
The classic profile of an offender is generally a person who is in a position of authority, whose word will be believed before that of a child, has a close and respected relationship with the child’s family.
CSA is unlikely to be the consequence of “stranger danger”.
Finally, no child is safe.
LAURIE BEATTIE
CALALA