Commission urged to hear prisoner victims of child abuse

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 26, 2012

Judith Ireland
Breaking News Reporter

THE victims support group Broken Rites will call on the federal government to directly contact prison inmates and people on government benefits to make sure they are included in the royal commission on child abuse.

A Broken Rites spokesman, Wayne Chamley, said both groups were likely to have experienced high rates of child abuse but may not be inclined to participate in the royal commission, due to issues with literacy or low levels of trust in authority figures.

”They run the risk of being the forgotten ones,” Dr Chamley said, suggesting that a letter could be sent to individuals.

He said about 40 per cent of prison inmates had a background of child abuse. Last year, a Department of Juvenile Justice report found 60 per cent of those in the NSW juvenile justice system had a history of child abuse or trauma.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.