Therapy shortfall

A PEF funded report by the NSPCC has found that a huge shortfall in therapy is leaving thousands of sexually abused children struggling to recover from their ordeal. The pioneering research has, for the first time, identified the scale of the UK’s problem.

Each year, at least 55,000 sex abuse victims face behavioural and mental health problems because of a post-code lottery in therapeutic services. There is only one support programme for every 25,000 children living in the UK and many areas provide no therapeutic provision for sexually abused children at all.

The 508 services identified in the report are so over-stretched that many are being forced to close their books. And those children and teenagers who get treatment often have to wait between three months and a year for this to begin.

The report reveals that teenagers are especially likely to miss out on therapy because they are less able to access services for adults and may be considered too old to get support on a child protection plan.

Eleven percent of young adults report experiences of physical sexual abuse during their childhoods. The report’s authors say the number of treatment spaces would have to grow fourfold to cope with the estimated numbers of sexually abused children and young people seeking support at any one time.

Debbie Allnock, who led the research and is based at the NSPCC’s Fresh Start in London, said: “Sexual abuse can have devastating consequences for a child but it remains a low priority within mainstream mental health services and among local authorities. Yet experiences of sexual abuse are common among people with severe long-term behavioural, criminal and addiction problems.

“Long waiting lists mean that if a young person is sexually abused they often don’t get the therapeutic help they need unless they also have a child protection plan. It takes bravery for a young person to tell someone about their sexual abuse and ask for help. But their suffering may only get noticed when they show significant signs of distress, anguish or damaging behaviours. They may then have a long wait for the support they desperately need.”