Counter Pedophilia Investigate Unit

A welfare group has criticised the South Australian Government’s response to the Mullighan Inquiry into the abuse of Aboriginal children on the APY Lands.

Former Supreme Court Judge, the late Ted Mullighan, released his findings in 2008, attaching 46 recommendations. The inquiry found evidence of child abuse and violence against women. A report into the Government’s progress is released annually.

But Jonathan Nicholls from Uniting Care Wesley says the latest report is skewed and contains little useful information. (more…)

In Pennsylvania, most professionals who come in contact with children are required to report suspected child abuse. As a direct response to the sex abuse scandal at Penn State University, the state legislature has created the Task Force on Child Protection.

The ten members will review current state policies governing child protection, the reporting of child abuse, and propose suggestions to improve the system. Four members were appointed by Governor Tom Corbett, and three each by the House and Senate.

Dr. Rachel Berger, a Child Protection team member at Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital, was selected by Senate leaders. Berger says that, due to factors such as budget, the now highly-publicized issue had been put on the back-burner. (more…)

CHILDREN who may have been neglected and abused in Victoria remain at risk after child protection services deliberately failed to investigate cases in a bid to meet their numerical reporting targets, a damning Ombudsman’s report has found.

The report – the latest in a series of scathing exposes of the state’s child protection system – also reveals that cases have been prematurely closed with insufficient assurances that the children involved were safe.

Acting Ombudsman John Taylor found 59 cases that should be reconsidered, and expressed dismay at being ”compelled” to again report on the failure of the Department of Human Services to ensure the safety of children. (more…)

Kids are being encouraged to “Play Your Part” when it comes to identifying friends or schoolmates who could suffer from abuse.

The National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) web-based initiative also extends to boyfriends, teachers, neighbours, youth workers and others who might be able to help a child in need.

Launched in Sydney on Monday, website aims to get people involved in preventing child abuse. (more…)

Dar es Salaam – A government-led study in Tanzania has found that three out of 10 girls and young women have suffered sexual violence.

The report funded by Unicef also found that one out of seven young men had been sexually abused.

Investigators surveyed more than 3 700 people aged 13 to 24 across the East African nation.

Tanzanian officials vowed to address the issue. And Unicef’s Tanzania Chief of Child Protection, Andrew Brooks, commended the country for seeking statistical proof of child abuse. (more…)

Ireland should look overseas for guidance before introducing tough new child protection rules here, writes Carl O’brien.

‘The days of voluntary compliance are over when it comes to child protection,” said Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald recently, following yet another horrific child-abuse report.

It was a bold statement. After years of failure by church and State authorities to fully comply with child-protection guidelines, Fitzgerald insisted that voluntary guidelines were not enough. Under tough new laws, failure to disclose information on child sexual abuse would result in such sanctions as fines or jail terms, she said. (more…)

MANCHESTER, England (CNS). The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain and Scotland in September prompted a wave of fresh allegations of historical clerical sexual abuse, church child protection officials said.

Allegations of sexual and physical abuse against priests, religious men and women, church employees, volunteers and parishioners more than doubled in 2010 compared with the previous year, according to figures released July 28 in the 2010-11 annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. (more…)

(Reuters) – Pennsylvania next month will become the third state in the nation with a court dedicated to bringing sex offenders to justice.

In an effort to stop repeat offenders, particularly those who target children, a pilot program will open June 23 in Allegheny County, according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. After a year, if deemed effective, it may be expanded statewide.

Judges hope that channeling sex abuse cases through a specialized court will speed up the process so that “victims and witnesses don’t have to wait before getting their day in court,” said Steve Schell, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. (more…)

Experts Lisa Paul, deputy prosecuting attorney at the Dawson Place Child Advocacy Center, and Dusty Olson, an advocate of Providence’s Intervention Center for Assault and Abuse and co-founder of the Snohomish County Sexual Exploitation and Intervention Network, discuss the problem of sex trafficking of children in Snohomish County.

When many think of sex trafficking, they think of prostitutes in Southeast Asia, Nepal, Bangladesh or another faraway country – anywhere but here in the United States, and especially not of our own kids in our own communities.

But it is happening here. (more…)