Child Abuse
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VICTIMS of sexual abuse are being forced to wait up to two years for counselling because of a shortage of funding.
In the lasy six years, more than 11,000 people have been referred to the National Counselling Service, set up by the State for adults who experienced childhood abuse.
The community-based service, which is run by the Health Service Executive, has been in operation since September 2000 and was established initially to provide counselling to adults abused in institutions. That was extended to include support to adults abused in other settings.
But while victims are given an initial appointment within eight weeks, it can take up to two years to be allocated full-time counselling.
The latest figures showed more than 600 people were waiting for counselling.
Deirdre Fitzpatrick, advocacy coordinator at One in Four, which supports victims of sexual abuse and whose title refers to the fact that one-in-four people experience childhood abuse, said such a high figure waiting and the long waiting times were cause for concern.
“It can be very difficult for people to make the first move of talking to someone,” she said. “If there is such a wait, our fear would be that it would lead people to disengage from the system. They might never then be able to address the underlying issues caused by the abuse.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said One in Four had noticed an increase in recent years in the number of people who are coming forward about their abuse and she questioned whether financial or staffing constraints were behind the long time-lag for people being admitted to the national system.
She said that in One in Four’s counselling service, the waiting time after initial appointment was four weeks for those who were flexible as to when they were free for appointments. Major delays only arose when the person had tight time constraints as to when they were available, she said.
A spokesperson for the HSE would only confirm that there was an 11-month average wait for people to be allocated to the service depending on the area where they are living.
The spokesperson added that certain cases would be given priority if it was felt necessary.
However, the HSE would not confirm what the longest time people were currently waiting for full-time counselling or what the reasons were for the delay.
The spokesman said the latest figures showed 610 people were waiting to be allocated for counselling.
In May 1999, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD apologised on behalf of the state to people who were abused while in residential care as children.
The Government later announced a package of measures to assist victims of childhood institutional abuse.
This included the establishment of the nationwide counselling service for all of these victims.
The Health Boards were recognised as the appropriate setting for the new dedicated counselling services.