Response of professionals

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'All I would have needed was someone to be there and to take some responsibility for it because I couldn't. There was no way I could fix it as a child, I was really in a totally powerless situation.'

Children come into contact with a range of professionals in their day-to-day lives. It is very difficult for children who have been abused to actually tell someone about it. They can become very stressed and this often shows in their behaviour.

Professionals need to be receptive to the signs which might indicate the child is being abused and respond to the child in a supportive and sensitive way.

'My father handled it like a policeman instead of a father and he brought one of his police mates down and they sat me at the dining room table and he sat opposite and said nothing while his police mate sort of interrogated me and then when I started getting upset, said like, "You think this is really bad, wait until you get into court and see what happens to you." '

'There was this joke about, "Oh God if we didn't know better we would think he was an abused child," was the routine that went on at the doctors. I was (being abused) but because my family was 'nice', it didn't get investigated.'

'For someone to say, "Hey look hang on, there is something wrong with this boy, let's deal with it, let's ask some questions." Why didn't anyone ask questions about my relationship with my grandfather because it was so obvious that he was taking me out to the farm, to his farm, Saturdays I was always with him on our own, all this sort of stuff, why didn't no one ask?'

'There must have been twenty or thirty teachers I've had as a child, all of them going, "Oh God what an awful child", and no one taking time out to say "This is what's wrong with him" and family members all who knew and no one asked any questions.'

'Stopping the abuse straight away, never compromising on that. There is no compromise, you don't wait, you don't see if it's really true, you don't try to get proof, or what are the consequences for this person.'

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Disclaimer Copyright Updated: 21 May 2010