From today's newspaper:
The number of children sexually abusing other children
has risen steeply, with treatment services reporting that
pornography and family violence are fuelling the trend.Children as young as four are being referred to programs
for problem sexual behaviour as more parents and schools
detect abuse in the family home and in the playground.
The Royal Children's Hospital's Gatehouse service saw 350
new cases in the past financial year –
more than double
the previous year. Of those children, 60 per cent were
abusing a sibling; more than 90 per cent had experienced
or witnessed family violence.
Experts say the seriousness of the sexual acts has escalated
in recent years and that online pornography is often being
used as a "teaching manual" for abuse.Karen Hogan, manager of the service said the children involved
were "screaming out for help" and should not be demonised.
"These kids are barometers for what is going on in the home –
violence and trauma, drug and alcohol issues, and because of
that they're often unsupervised and have access to pornography.
They're really needy, they're really vulnerable and sometimes
this behaviour is the only way they understand human connection,"
she said.Referrals to the Australian Childhood Foundation's Transformers
program have also grown, from 10 a year when it began in 2000,
to 250 new cases last year. The majority are boys, with
pornography an aggravating factor in most cases.
A similar pattern is emerging at other juvenile treatment
agencies across Victoria including the South Eastern Centre
Against Sexual Assault and the Children's Protection Society.
"One of the most concerning cohorts for us is the very young
kids – the children who are under 12 or even under 10 and their
sexually abusive behaviour is quite severe.
We're seeing a lot
more of anal, oral and vaginal penetration of younger children," said forensic psychologist Russell Pratt, who spent 12 years
with the Centre Against Sexual Assault and is one of Australia's
leading authorities on
sexualised behaviour in children.
Dr Pratt said that in the past, a child who was abusing their
little brother or sister would have taken a long time to "get
the mechanics right" and progress to penetrative sex acts.
"It used to be a cycle of offending, where there was a build
up to this. Now, what we're seeing is that because of the
impact of porn these kids are really getting the template to
do this very quickly."
Joe Tucci, chief executive of the Australian Childhood Foundation,
said that
when their program began the majority of children were
engaged in less serious sexual abuse such as touching over clothes
or lewd behaviour and language. Most were victims of sexual abuse
and were mimicking what they had endured.
Now, about 60 per cent of children referred have no history of
abuse and the behaviour they engage in is more extreme.
Mr Tucci said it was usually driven by factors such as trauma,
neglect, family violence, parental separation or financial stress,
and increasingly, exposure to pornography.It left children unable to regulate their feelings, particularly
when parents were emotionally unavailable.
"If they get angry they can't calm down. If they get distressed
they don't find people comforting. They have this diet of easily
accessible porn, sexual imagery and distorted values around
relationships and they put those things together and they start
engaging in the sexual behaviour," he said.
"It helps them to feel better, at least momentarily. In their
mind they are in a relationship because often these kids are
feeling alone and quite isolated. The sexual component gives
some satisfaction and that can be part of the compulsion to
keep doing it."
Victoria is the only state to mandate a therapeutic rather than
punitive response to children displaying sexualised behaviour.
Although there is an option to involve police when offenders are
10 or over, a therapeutic treatment order is usually the initial
approach for children up to 15.
Between 90 and 95 per cent of those who complete a year-long
program – which involves individual and family counselling, art
and play therapy, education on healthy relationships and building
empathy for victims – do not go on to reoffend.
Agencies are increasingly seeing younger children but the average
age of those referred is between 11 and 14, around the onset of
puberty.
"They don't start doing it because they were born that way. Our
community has failed them and we need to find compassion for what
they've been through and help them recover," Mr Tucci said.
"If we can't stop this behaviour early the more entrenched it
becomes and then you're looking at adults who will offend against
a whole range of children and be quite dangerous."
Aileen Ashford, chief executive of the Children's Protection Society
said their service had seen a significant increase in referrals for
children displaying problematic sexual behaviour in the past three
years.
They come from every type of socio-economic background, with family
violence and pornography common factors in an increasing number of
cases. She called for training for schools to deal with children
displaying problem sexual behaviour, and urged parents to place
strict boundaries around internet use.
Carolyn Worth, manager of South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault,
said pornography was a growing problem and the sexual behaviour of
children they treated had become more serious since the widespread
uptake of broadband internet in 2006.
Social commentator Melinda Tankard Reist, co-founder of Collective
Shout For A World Free of Sexploitation, said a tipping point had
been reached and government regulation of online pornography was
needed.
"How much worse does it have to get? How many more five-year-olds
do we want to have in treatment programs until we say maybe it
shouldn't be a free-for-all where kids can access torture porn and
rape porn and incest porn? Children are being groomed to think this
stuff is normal."Dr Pratt said exposure to pornography reinforced notions of gender
inequality, particularly for children who live with family violence
and already have a skewed view of relationships.
He called for an overhaul of the sex education system to ensure
children are taught from an early age about healthy and respectful
intimacy."
Age newspaper.
www.theage.com.au/victoria/porn-family-violence-linked-to-surge-in-childonchild-sex-abuse-cases-20150627-ghykne.htmlPuts another lights on children too young to profess, doesn't it?
This is your world, not mine.