Support needed for victims of abuse

MOST of you are probably sick of the media circus around the Rolf Harris trial, but there are important lessons to be learnt.

For some of us, there are rather trivial issues to work through. For example, how do we reconcile our memories of him as a child with the monster we now know him to be? And what do we do with his songs?

The other day I was walking down the street when a dishevelled- looking gentleman started singing: “Tie me 14year- old girl down, sport, tie me 14year- old girl down!” I’ll admit, I laughed. It’s better to make a mockery of the man, and his songs, than to continue to take them seriously.

More importantly, can Rolf Harris teach us something about child sex offenders? And can we use this to save many young lives from enduring the same fate as his victims?

I think the most important lesson is this: sex- offending pedophiles don’t have to be the stereotypical creepy man down the street. They are often respected members of the community.

Only about 11 per cent of reported child sexual assaults in Australia are perpetrated by strangers. On the other hand, more than 40 per cent are committed by a male relative and 16 per cent a family friend.

I know a couple of women who were sexually abused as children by men with well- paying professional jobs.

In my view, these men have gotten away with these despicable acts, at every turn, due to their standing within their community. Because of their status, they were easily able to gain access to the children; no one believed the children when they first complained of the abuse; and now these men have the power and money to intimidate their now- adult victims from going to the police.

In the Rolf Harris case, his victims suffered “severe psychological injury” as a result of his abuse, which no doubt contributed to their silence over many years.

To combat this, we need to take children more seriously when they complain of abuse — no matter who the accused.

Then, there needs to be more support for victims at every step. They need to be able to give evidence to the police, and during a trial, without doing themselves further psychological harm.

If we as a society don’t make changes, thousands of perpetrators like Rolf Harris will never be held accountable for their actions.