Young abuse victim calling for change
The boy’s mother was upstairs when he forced himself on *Jane, aged 12. Jane told nobody for years but now she is telling the world. She wants others in her situation to know they can, and should, talk to authorities.
Jane, now 15 and not her real name, is calling for better education in schools so that children who are abused know they can speak out and be taken seriously.
She, with her mother’s support, was eager that her name and photograph be used in this article but legal reasons prohibit this.
Her push for change comes after a report, released last week, revealed the majority of 23,000 sexual violence incidents reported to police over the past five years were experienced by children or young people.
Those young people had experienced sexual abuse from unwanted comments and touching, to serious sexual violence.
‘‘The largest of these studies found that 15 per cent of secondary students . . . said they had been touched in a sexual way or made to do unwanted sexual things in the previous 12 months,’’ the Ministry of Justice report said.
For every 100 sexual violence incidents reported to the police, only 31 made it to court, 11 resulted in a conviction and six in imprisonment, the report said.
It was the first time a large-scale analysis was undertaken in New Zealand and the results will be factored into a new law, anticipated to go before Parliament by the end of this year.
It was shocking that it was the first time the numbers had been crunched and the findings were not good enough, UnderSecretary for Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence) Jan Logie said last week.
Jane said a boy, just a few months younger than her, forced himself on her when she was 12. His mother was just upstairs while it happened.
He warned her against telling anyone about it. ‘‘He pretty much manipulated me into believing no-one would believe me.’’
It was only recently that she told her therapist, then her family, and now the world. She is calling for better education for children who face the same problem.
‘‘All I got told in school was to go to the police and they will deal with it. I never got told they will believe me and people will support me.’’
There had been more awareness around rape and sexual violence since the #MeToo movement but HELP Auckland executive director Kathryn McPhillips said there needed to be more focus on children and young people. ‘‘It’s happening to kids too. When are we going to make that important?’’
While the Government’s healthy
Sexual abuse victim
relationships programme for secondary schools called Mates and Dates had been a success, there was nowhere near the level of saturation needed to ensure every student had access to those teachings.
‘‘And it’s quite late in the piece.’’ Children needed to learn about sexual abuse and healthy relationships before they reached secondary school, she added.
Schools also needed to up their stance on sexual violence policies, calling many practices ‘‘poor’’.
Wellington Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation chief executive Conor Twyford said it was heartbreaking that children and young people were believed less often than adults. ‘‘Some people really just find it hard to believe them, including their own family members. Children also experience trauma differently to adults, so it’s important that they receive specialised care and support following a sexual assault.’’
Child sexual abuse was a specialised field, Twyford added, and it needed to be approached with great care and skill.
Ministry of Education early learning and student achievement deputy secretary Ellen MacGregor-Reid said health and physical education gave children sexuality education as part of the school curriculum but the ministry was refreshing its guidance for schools, due to be released in 2020. ‘‘The guide assists schools in teaching children to identify safe and unsafe touching and the importance of respect and personal boundaries from year 1.’’
By secondary school, topics covered consent, coercion and sexual violence. Skills central to healthy relationships such as self-knowledge, assertiveness and care, were also included, she said.
The ministry’s cross-agency support services include the police, ACC sensitive claims, Mates and Dates, Safe Network, Stop, Child Abuse Prevention Parent Helpline, Child Matters, and Child, Youth & Family.
The programmes focus on the prevention of sexual violence by educating young people on healthy relationships, consent and what sexual violence looks like.
In the latest Health and Wellbeing of Secondary School Students in New Zealand report, 57 per cent of the people surveyed had not told anyone about being sexually abused.
Of those, 37 per cent said the last time they were abused, it was ‘‘pretty bad, really bad or terrible’’. A further 15 per cent said they had been touched in a sexual way or made to do unwanted sexual things in the previous 12 months.
The data was collated in the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse’s most recent child sexual abuse summary.
It said the majority of students who had experienced sexual abuse were over the age of 15, 14 per cent were 14 years old, and 12 per cent were 13 years and under.
Detective Senior Sergeant James Patea, the national co-ordinator for Child Protection, said help was available through specialised sexual assault investigators and police referrals to support agencies.
‘‘Police take reports of sexual assault extremely seriously. We fully recognise the traumatic effect this offending has on victims’ lives and acknowledge that it takes courage to come forward and talk about it.’’
Sexual Abuse Prevention Network chief executive Fiona McNamara said it was an ‘‘unfortunate reality’’ that survivors of sexual abuse were not believed.
‘‘I think that this is due to long-standing myths, misunderstandings and ideas around sexual abuse that exists in society.
‘‘We know that in New Zealand just one in 10 sexual assaults are reported to the police and we know that a small number of those will go to court, and an even smaller number will result in a guilty verdict. There’s a lot of work to be done in this area.’’
Education programmes in schools would help but the biggest issue students faced now was their limited reach – with about 25 per cent of secondary schools accessing the Mates and Dates programme.
‘‘There’s a plan to increase that year by year but it will happen slowly. In terms of keeping young people safe, it includes educating teachers, parents and caregivers, sports coaches, drama teachers – all the people who might have some kind of support or educative role.
‘‘We need to make sure the messages are reinforced outside the classroom as well.’’
Jane was right, McNamara said. More education and support services were needed and better awareness raised around those available services.
‘‘All I got told in school was to go to police and they will deal with it.’’
*Jane
* Name has been changed for legal reasons.
Safe to talk Ko¯ rero mai ka ora sexual harm helpline: www.safetotalk.nz, 0800 044 334 TOAH-NNEST Te Ohaakii a Hine – National network ending sexual violence together: toah-nnest.org.nz
National Collective of Rape Crisis 24-hour helpline: 0800 883 300