Lesser Occurrences, but is support to victims also less-er?

OFFICIAL NUMBERS ONLY THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG?

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SINGAPORE - This much is clear: The number of child sex abuse cases reported in last year - particularly where a child is abused at home by a family member - is on the decline.

The Ministry of Community Youth and Sports (MCYS) said 32 such cases were reported last year, down from the 45 in 2008.

The figures from MCYS, made available to MediaCorp, did not indicate the number of boys and girls involved in the cases cited last year. They also pertained only to cases where the child was abused by a family member at home, said the ministry.

But a recent Singapore Children's Society report, quoting figures provided by Ministry of Home Affairs, reported that an average of 240 cases of child sexual abuse were uncovered between 1999 and 2002. These included "intra-familial abuse cases" that are followed up by MCYS.

Could this mean that official figures are only the tip of the iceberg?

Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre social worker Yun Xin Ting thinks so.

"One thing that concerns me is that even though the numbers are low, are we really giving these victims enough treatment to deal with their trauma?" she said.

What's worrying about these victims is that without proper counselling, they may begin to act up.

Take the case of 13-year-old Janet (not her real name): Molested by her stepfather at night in her room, the secondary school student tried to seek help when she lodged a report with the police. But her mother accused her of lying to get attention.

Upset and betrayed, the girl ran away and fell into bad company. She eventually returned home after her stepfather was arrested for the abuse, a social worker told MediaCorp.

While she is now on the road to recovery, the journey was tough. Janet told social workers that in order to deal with the pain, she began having sex with boys.

She gave in many times to their advances but was said to be numb to the experience, according to the social worker.

Like Janet, most victims in intra-familial sexual abuses cases face shame and stigma and choose to deal with the problem in their own ways, said Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of youth services at Singapore Children's Society.

Being sexually active could be a coping mechanism, she added.

Previous studies have shown that it is not uncommon for some victims to become highly sexualised.

According to a recent survey done by the DSC Clinic, the National Healthcare Group, the National University of Singapore and the Singapore General Hospital, 22.5 per cent of sexual active teenage girls had a history of sexual abuse, compared to the 3 per cent of non-sexually active girls.

"Some children do not reveal these problems and they end up getting in and out of relationships or become sexually active as a way to cope," said a social worker, who declined to be named. "Such an attitude may make it easy for people to take advantage of them".

Furthermore, not all victims have the comfort of a family to turn to for support after their therapy sessions, and end up in homes for troubled youths.

Ms Yun said there are also initiatives to ensure that at-risk children are not neglected. For instance, MCYS launched a grant last year to help find quality childcare staff.

The grant, available to some non-profit childcare operators, is expected to reach about $30 million a year in its fifth year and is part of the Government's effort to enhance the quality, accessibility and affordability of centre-based childcare.

The funding has also helped agencies work with schools to provide for at-risk students, said Ms Yun.

Still, Janet's ordeal highlighted something which social workers find worrying: Victims face "re-victimisation" - being forced to re-live the ordeal through questioning by the authorities - when they decide to confront their abuser.

Dr Balhetchet suggests an age-old approach to solving this problem.

"Education is important ... law enforcers need to be sensitive to such reports made and various layers of support to the child are critical. I fear that unless this is done, more will be afraid to come forward because they will think no one will believe them," she said.

From TODAY, Monday, 22-Feb-2010

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