Sexual Health

6. Sexual abuse

6.4. How to discover and report sexual abuse

Photo: G.H.Lunde

Example: Why do not children talk about sexual abuse

 

 

If you report your concerns as a parent, you may help the child get the right attention and help. Everyone has a moral responsibility to report abuse, but legal responsibility is also present if you are a public employee/civil servant. You may discuss your concern anonymously with a professional or a lawyer, before reporting it to the police. All public employees/civil servants and a number of other professionals are obliged to comply with the duty of confidentiality. Regardless if the individual works in the public domain or for a private service, they also have a duty to report to child protection services if there is a reason to believe that:

• a child is abused at home or elsewhere

• there are other kinds of serious neglect of welfare issues

• when a child shows serious and long-lasting behavioural difficulties

 

Example: Sexual abuse of a woman in a group home, by Doctor and neurologist Roy Nystad. (Video from online study Seksuell helse og seksualitetsundervisning Oslo Metropolitan UniversityVUNDS6100)

 

 

If you send a letter of concern, you may give information as to what constitutes the reason for the letter: (observations, conversations with the child, specific events, or other); what you or others have done in the case; contact with school and so on. Write down your own observations in an objective manner, without discussing what you heard or saw. Be as objective as possible.

In addition to sending a letter of concern based on details given by the child/youth/adult with ID, you need to be a safe and comforting adult to the person. There are many ways for a person to deal with abuse of your private space. Listen to the victim, because they may give you clues on survival strategies you may use to support them. Be available for questions, direct the person to the place they may ask for more help at. A high number of organisations provide help to victims. Countries may organize these services in different ways. For instance, Norway have a regional service named Public Children's Houses (translated from Norwegian ‘Statens barnehus’). In these centres, there are interdisciplinary teams ready to help victims who wish to report offences to the police.

Photo: G.H.Lunde