It is a democratic issue too. Because, if part of a population is not free, if part of the population is unable to speak out because of fear, public ignorance, inadequate services, systems that fail to protect, then they do not enjoy that fragile notion we call democracy. Until women can think and act freely without fear of violence in their home or workplace then we do not have real freedom. Most importantly these crimes steal the unique human spirit of individuals, it destroys their promise, their health and narrows their existence into one that is surviving and recovering from abuse instead of creating and thriving. What we are dealing with is the most universal, the most unpunished, the most underreported of crimes.
Official figures suggest that one in four girls and one in six boys are being sexually abused.
Child sexual abuse is under -reported. Workers in the field suggest that for every report of this abuse, there are at least 10 cases that go unreported. It is extremely rare to successfully prosecute an adult on children' s evidence. There is no rehabilitation offered to child sex offenders in jail in South Australia despite studies that show that there is an enormous cost in not rehabilitating child sex offenders. Abuse against women and children knows no boundaries in culture and knows no colour.