NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
Child abuse: Media coverage of high-profile cases has given more children courage to seek help
BY NEIL ANDERSON – 30 DECEMBER 2014
Over the last few years the news agenda has been flooded with reports of large-scale sexual abuse including the horrendous actions of Jimmy Savile and accounts from victims giving evidence to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry here.
While the figure of 718 ongoing sex abuse investigations by the PSNI is a stark statistic which highlights, to a degree, the scale of this heinous crime, the figures need to be seen in context.
There is reason to believe that media coverage of high-profile cases may be encouraging victims to come forward in the confidence that they will be believed.
Changes to the child protection reporting systems in Northern Ireland have also made it easier for victims to disclose abuse.
We also know that sexual offences involving children and young people reported to the PSNI over the last decade have shown an increase from 875 in 2002/03 to 1,182 in 2012/13.
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