Breaking the silence on sexual abuse of children

The British government and associations which defend children’s interests recently asked Facebook to install an emergency button so that teenagers could immediately ask for help if they felt threatened. This call was made a few months after the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl called Ashleigh Hall. Her attacker had used a false identity to strike up a friendship with her online.

While the development of discussion forums and other social networks online has led to greatly increased risks of abuse, the sexual violence with which children may be confronted in their own home, at school or during out-of-school activities continues to be a grave but barely mentioned problem.

Yet one child out of five in Europe is thought to have been a victim of sexual violence, a multiform violence but in most case not inevitable. That is why the Council of Europe has made the promotion of children’s rights and their protection against sexual violence a priority, by having legal and political measures gradually adopted in Europe and by launching an awareness-raising campaign.

In 70 to 85% of cases, the perpetrator is known to the victim

Sexual violence is all the more unconscionable because often it is not perpetrated by a stranger met through the Internet or on the street, but by the child’s close relatives, neighbours, trusted acquaintances or figures of authority. Sexual abuse affects girls and boys who suffer not only an intolerable violation of their physical integrity but also destruction of their bonds of trust and upsetting of their psychological balance.

Children who are sexually abused take refuge in silence because they feel shame or guilt, as well as fear and ignorance, with the result that the abuse remains a complete secret for a very long time, sometimes for life. In some cases, on reaching adulthood, victims think it is too late to talk about it and so continue to suffer severe after-effects.

Although it is hard to gain an exact idea of the extent of the problem, the number of cases brought to justice for abuses committed in child care institutions is steadily rising. No institution is immune, as witness the case of Casa Pia (a state institution taking in orphans and underprivileged children) in Portugal in 2002 and, more recently, by the spate of paedophilia scandals which has rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

A new international convention …

The entry into force on 1 July 2010 of the Council of Europe Convention against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse will represent a significant advance in preventing abuse and combating impunity.

The Convention is the first instrument to treat sexual abuse of children as a crime, irrespective of whether it is committed at home, within the family or through the Internet. It asks European lawmakers to extend the statutory limitation for trial of these crimes so that proceedings can be brought long after the victim has reached the age of majority. It stresses the importance of sex education and calls for the creation of services whereby children can report abuses. It stipulates judicial procedures suited to children, more mindful of the trauma and safeguarding victims’ security, privacy, identity and image.

… and a European awareness-raising campaign to be launched in Italy

The Council of the Europe will launch a new awareness-raising campaign, including a television spot, in Rome on 29 November to alert the governments of its 47 member states, the general public and professional circles to the unacceptable persistence of sexual violence against children. Many abuses could be averted if children knew both the risks and the steps to take when in trouble.

Sexual violence against children is a crime and a deep wound. Our social codes, taboos and fears have built artificial walls of silence to shut in the children’s suffering and protect the criminals.

Our campaign is an opportunity to replace the walls of silence with firm, wholesome bridges between children and adults. For adults to be worthy of children’s trust it will take more than words and promises. We shall need definite actions to prevent, condemn and punish abuses, help children to protect and express themselves, and give victims a chance to overcome their trauma. This is necessary, feasible and urgent.

by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Published by Belgrade daily Danas on Tuesday, June 22, 2010.