PRETORIA CONFERENCE

Abused children often ignored

People who were raped as children often faced secondary victimisation when those in whom they confided reacted in a non-supportive manner, a researcher said on Tuesday.
Steven Collings, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Psychology, was speaking at the conference of the SA Professional Society on the Abuse of Children which is being held at the University of Pretoria.
“A supportive reaction to children who disclose abuse cannot be taken as a given,” said Collings, citing a review of 27 studies of the reactions of those guardians who had not perpetrated the abuse.
The review showed that 25 percent of such guardians were non-supportive, 31 percent were partially supportive, and 41 percent were fully supportive.

Collings said some children who disclosed abuse were beaten, ignored, or silenced by those in whom they confided.
Collings said one reason for such reactions — although not a justification — was ambivalence in cases where, for instance, a child reported abuse by a father to a mother.
“The mother might . . . choose to preserve the marriage and silence the child, or report the case much later,” he said.
Collings's research revealed that younger children who reported abuse by someone outside of the family were less likely to be taken seriously than those who reported abuse by a family member.
He suggested that community educational programmes could solve the problem of non-supportive reactions and encourage the reporting of abuse.
American child abuse litigation specialist Larry Braunstein told the conference that even the best psychologists and social workers could feel uncomfortable about giving testimony in a court case.

Dilemmas they faced included not knowing how long they would be given to prepare for court — if they could prepare at all — as well as how long they would be on the stand.
“Each of us is a piece of the puzzle. To be effective in our work, we need to know where we stand in terms of the investigation and prosecution of a case,” said Braunstein.
The conference will also be addressed by social workers, medical and mental healthcare professionals, law enforcement officials and legal practitioners.
Experts will speak on ethical dilemmas, how to identify and prove drug-facilitated sexual abuse, and different facets of child physical abuse.

Also on the agenda are practical guidelines for media reporting on child abuse.

Sapa
19 May 2005

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20050518073049538C915633

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