But if responsible adults do nothing, offenders may continue assaulting this child or other children. Research into sexual assault has found that children appreciate adults acting to protect them. A child who's been assaulted may also benefit from talking confidentially to a specially trained counsellor from a Sexual Assault Centre. It's hard for families to discuss child sexual abuse with strangers, of course, but it's also important to understand that children who've been sexually assaulted may have problems as a result. They may have difficulty trusting people, for example, or they may feel bad about themselves.
Counselling can help prevent problems.
Remember that it's part of a counsellor's job not to repeat anything clients say to anyone outside the service. The same rules also apply to interpreters. Many sexual assault services have workers trained to help children who have been sexually assaulted, as well as their families Sexual assault services are available at some hospitals, including Royal North Shore, and both the New Children's Hospital, Westmead and the Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick. Your local hospital can also put you in touch with the nearest sexual assault service. 7517 GPO Box 1614, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia This site has been made possible with the cooperation and support of NSW Health Dept and South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service.