AUSTRALIA
SBS
By Chiara Pazzano
Today, the first public hearings of the Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse have begun in Sydney.
President of Adults Surviving Child Abuse Dr Cathy Kezelman says the inquiry is a great start.
“What we have for the first time is the possibility for people to be heard in private sessions and also for forensic inquiries into the impediments and blocks in institutions,” she says.
“And that is formal, in terms of proceedings and informal in terms of culture. That has meant that children have not been protected, have been harmed, and that has meant that institutions have been protected and not children”.
She says the inquiry is limited though, as it’s only looking at child sexual abuse in institutions.
“It’s not looking at other forms of abuse and it’s not looking at abuse and trauma in childhood that occurs outside of institutions, in the family, in the home, in the community – external to institutions”.
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