AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By Craig Hughes-Cashmore Feb. 17, 2014
THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse has brought news about the sexual abuse of children in institutions – in the past and present – into hard focus. Many of those known to have been so abused are boys, an unknown but likely large number of whom tell no one or delay reporting it for years – on average 25 years, according to both local and international research.
Four years ago Survivors & Mates Support Network (SAMSN) was established as the first national not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing emotional and practical support to male survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their families.
Since 2011 the network has conducted groups and workshops for men and their supporters. A significant number of men who have completed one of our eight-week groups have engaged with the royal commission and still others are considering making contact.
Survivors & Mates Support Network was established by our own fund-raising efforts and a small community grant from the City of Sydney. What we didn’t anticipate was the avalanche of disclosures triggered by the state inquiries in NSW and Victoria, and the national royal commission and the sudden demand that would create for our service.
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