Sex Abuse Royal Commission: Apologies Don't Go Far Enough to Undo Damage, Child Advocates Say
By Nicole Chettle
Institutional apologies to victims of child sexual abuse are sometimes weak, insulting and do not go far enough to address the long-term damage that has been caused, a royal commission has heard. Bruce Perry from The Child Trauma Academy in the United States was one of several experts giving evidence about the impacts of abuse at the second last day of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse's public hearings in Sydney. "You can't erase institutional coercion and institutional abuse of process by issuing a statement," Dr Perry said. "That doesn't undo it. That's not enough." During the course of his work, Dr Perry said he had worked with survivors who had been offended by official statements from the organisations in which they were abused. "Some of the responses by institutions that have finally taken responsibility have been so weak and they've been so feeble that it almost feels insulting to them," he said. "You can't have ... a little PR thing that says 'The YMCA is sorry that we sexually abused all you kids in our child care centres'. "If your institution contributed to this process for three generations, you need a three generation problem solving process to address it." Victims suffer devastating health impacts, commission hears Dr Perry said survivors of child abuse were at increased risk of developing a range of problems including heart disease, depression and schizophrenia. "There are physical and physiological changes that take place in the body and brains of people who have had histories of sexual abuse," Dr Perry said. "I think it leads to multi-generational problems. "Sexual abuse during development can impact certain systems in the body and the brain that are involved in stress response ... and then when they get to be an adult it'll influence the way they parent." A 67-year old man given the pseudonym AOA told the commission of the devastating impact of abuse he endured for 12 months as a child at Tasmanian school. "On the outside I appear normal, happy and relaxed," he said. "These are the invisible wounds of my being groomed for child sexual abuse, in a way I'm still trying to navigate how to connect with a ghost who abused me." AOA told the commission his past still affected his life and his loved ones. He cried and said: "I am broken. I am alive. I am blessed." Systemic change needed, advocates say Karyn Walsh is the chief executive of Micah Projects, a Queensland-based not for profit organisation which works with vulnerable Australians, including survivors of institutional abuse. "We have to take the blame off people and accept that we as a country haven't put the right systems in place" Ms Walsh said. "Institutions that were established to protect children in fact didn't. And there's been long-term, trans-generational consequences." Dr Cathy Kezelman is a survivor of abuse and president of the Blue Knot Foundation, which provides specialist counselling to adults who were traumatised as children. She praised the courage and resilience of survivors who gave evidence at the royal commission. "We have to change the script that the survivors have, that the world is not safe — waiting for the next assault to happen," she said. Dr Kezelman also pointed to the need for a "top to bottom" change at institutions, including better training of staff at all levels and long-term monitoring. "It's a systemic change," she said, "and it needs to be ongoing."
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