What is CARI?

o        The Children At Risk in I reland Foundation

o      A registered charity (no 9491), founded in 1989

o      CARI is a registered company limited by guarantee

CARI exists to provide:

o      Therapy services for children and young people (up to 18 years) whose lives have been disrupted by experiences, exposures to, or allegations of sexual violence.

o      Support, counselling and information for non-abusing family member/carers.

o     Information and support to members of the public who are concerned about child sexual abuse or child protection.

o     Training, supervision and consultation to agencies and professionals on issues relating to child sexual abuse.

o     Advocacy and campaigning for children at risk in Ireland.

What range of services does CARI offer?

o     Telephone support and information nationally on 1890 924567.

o     Face to face advice appointments for adults with child protection concerns

o     Individual counselling and psychotherapy for children, and therapeutic and practical support for their parents and carers

o     Court Support and Advocacy Service

o     Continuing professional development and preventative education services to other organisations and community groups.

What services are not available from CARI?

o      Validation or assessment of child sexual abuse

o      Assessment or therapeutic services for adults perpetrators of child sexual abuse

o      Residential services

o      Assessment of child sexual abuse for prosecution or defence in legal proceedings

Who provides the above services at CARI?

CARI has a team of trained professionals who work with clients on the telephone and face to face.

Telephone Helpline Staff

CARI has a team of specially trained telephone helpline staff available to offer support and information to callers from Monday to Friday between 0930 and 1730.    (1890 92 45 67) 

Psychotherapists

Our therapeutic team is made up of trained and experienced psychotherapists who specialise in child therapy. Each client is offered an appropriate therapy/treatment plan for their specific needs, including specialised play, sand, and art therapy for children.                   All therapeutic work is clinically supervised by an external consultant, and subject to clinical line management.

Fund-raising

As a voluntary organisation, we depend on donations and fund-raising to provide funds for over 70% of our services. Our national and regional fundraising teams work together creatively to raise funds, which enables CARI to provide a range of quality services. We do receive some HSE funding for specific areas of activity but to date CARI has not received core funding for its national services from this source.   

Administration

CARI has a team of people who work in the administration department ensuring that the organisation is run in an effective manner. We are constantly striving to ensure that the amount of our funding spent on administration is kept as low as possible.  We do this by availing of CE staff for many of our administration positions and at present only 2.6% of our income is expended on administration.

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN IRELAND

What is child sexual abuse?

Child sexual abuse has been defined as the “involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activity that they do not fully comprehend, are unable to give informed consent to, and that violate the social taboos of family roles” (Roberge, 1976).

Child sexual abuse occurs when an adult uses his or her power and authority to force or persuade a child to take part in sexual activities, including exposure to, and the making of pornographic materials. A child is never in a position to make a valid choice about appropriate sexual acts. Incest refers to sexual abuse by a family member.

Who sexually abuses children?

The majority of sexual abusers are men, although some perpetrators are women.  Children are usually abused by someone they know, for example, a family member, carer, neighbour or authority figure. Sexual offenders often appear to be ordinary, trustworthy people.  People who abuse children are from every type of background. 

Who is abused?

Boys and girls are sexually abused and this can happen within every strata of society. 

The National Survey commissioned by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1993 revealed that the national statistic for contact sexual abuse in childhood is 12% (i.e. one in eight children experience sexual abuse). However, more recent research indicates that one in four girls and one in five boys in Ireland have experienced sexual abused (SAVI Report 2002). 

In the ten year period between 1988 and 1998, Childline received over 780,000 calls from children, 52,000 of which were relating to child sexual abuse.  Barnardos report that there are approximately 600 cases of child sexual abuse annually, 60% of which are intrafamilial abuse. Reports of child abuse increased by 58% between 1987 and 1991. Reports of child sexual abuse increased from 234 cases in 1985 to 600 cases in 1994. 

Health Board figures show that they are receiving over 4,000 reported cases of alleged abuse of which 37.5% (1500) are confirmed. However, the continuing taboo, guilt and secrecy surrounding this issue means that many children’s situations are never heard about and children continue suffer.

Children who are affected by sexual abuse come from many different family backgrounds. The impact of this trauma upon them may be compounded by social problems such as marital difficulties, poor parenting, lack of finance, addiction or domestic violence. 

What are the effects of child sexual abuse?

The extent of the trauma caused by sexual abuse varies and depends on the nature and extent of the abuse. The relationship of the abuser to the child plays a significant part in the extent of the trauma experienced by the child.

There are some general themes found in children who have been sexually abused:

o        loss of trust 

o        poor self esteem

o        emotional deadness

o        feeling responsible for the abuse

o        guilt

As the child develops into an adolescent and adult, s/he may find it difficult to form close relationships and may choose to distance him/herself from people, feeling worthless and unlovable. S/he may become involved in violent or abusive relationships in adulthood.

The person may experience sexual difficulties, either being unable to engage in a sexual relationship or behaving promiscuously, engaging indiscriminately in sexual activity.

Some people resort to alcohol, drugs or food to numb the deep emotional pain and to build up ‘protective’ barriers from engaging with other people.

It is important to be aware that with skilled therapeutic intervention a person who has experienced child sexual abuse can recover fully and can progress in their life to have healthy relationships.

What should I do if someone discloses to me?

o        Believe the person and take what they say seriously 

o        Listen to what he or she is saying - you may be the first person they have shared this experience with

o        Offer to support them in whatever they decide to do

o        Give the person time and do not judge them - they are not at fault

o        If the person is a child use the same language as the child uses to describe the experience

o        Try not to judge the abuser or talk about punishment for him or her unless this is initiated by the person disclosing

o        Try not to ask probing questions - let the person set the pace and stop talking when they need to

o        Try not to make any promises you cannot keep but assure the person that they have your support

o        Let the person know what you are going to do and, as far as possible, what is going to happen next

o        Let the person know that they were right to tell you.   Finish on a positive note.

o        Get some support for yourself by calling CARI on 1890 924567, Monday to Friday 0930 - 1730

What should I do if I suspect a child is being sexually abused? 

At this time in Ireland, you have no legal obligation to do anything.   However, if you have a genuine reason to be concerned about the safety of a child, taking action could prevent abuse continuing and could protect other children at risk of abuse.

The Child Care Manager in each Health Services Executive area has the statutory responsibility for all cases of child sexual abuse. You can contact your local Social Work Team and let them know of your concerns. The Duty Social Worker will want to know your reasons for suspecting that a child is being sexually abused. The Social Worker will also request your name but she will try to keep it confidential. The Social Worker will investigate

the situation and take action if necessary.  For details of your local Community Care Social Work Team telephone free phone 1800 520 520.

The Gardaí also have a statutory role in the protection of children. If you are concerned that a child is in immediate danger, and you are unable to contact a Social Worker, you can contact your local Garda Station.

What makes it difficult for children to tell about abuse? 

Being a child

Simply because of age, children may lack the knowledge, maturity and sometimes even the language to describe traumatic experiences.

Child’s view of the world

The world of a child is by nature self-centred, causing them to feel responsible for their experiences.

Fear of consequences

A child who is being abused may believe that by telling they will make their situation worse. 

Protecting the family

Children often try to protect other family members both from abuse and information they feel will upset them. 

Attachment to the abuser

Children need to form attachments in order to survive. They may become attached to, and care about, a person who may hurt or abuse them.

Fear of rejection

Children can fear losing the affection of both the abuser and others. 

Learned helplessness

When children believe that they have no control over a situation they learn to behave helplessly. They may continue to behave helplessly even if an opportunity for escape or change presents itself. 

Fear of the abuser and the abuser’s threats

Believing the abuser’s threats can be enough to silence a child. 

Obedience

Children are taught to obey adults and they may have been told by their abuser not to tell. 

Not knowing who or how to tell

Fear of getting themselves into trouble and the fear of not being believed can be very real for a child.

Do children lie about sexual abuse?

Sexually abused children have been known to deny, minimize, "forget", and confuse, but rarely do they lie. Research by Lucy Berliner and colleagues in Seattle has matched children's statements and later admissions by sexual offenders and found that not only were the children's statements accurate, but often they were found to be understated accounts of the abuse suffered.

The reporting of sexual abuse is a developmental phenomenon. Children do not automatically report the way adults do. Their reports vary at different ages. For example, a very young child might not have the vocabulary or concept to express an abusive act correctly. The manner in which children remember and recall material also changes as they grow. For example, a child who is recalling details from incidents that occurred when he was four is attempting recall from a very different cognitive arrangement - and even more different from an adult's way of thinking! These differences and inconsistencies might initially appear as "lies" but they are not.

There is no way a child can depict explicitly the details of sexual acts performed on him or her unless the child has experienced it; his or her life does not typically involve exposure to such material.