Child abuse perpetrator report
Senator Healy Eames cites new evidence on the young age of child-abuse perpetrators and seeks a coordinated Government response to prevent continued cycles of abuse.
Perhaps the following has been raised, but if it has not, it needs to be. The Rape Crisis Network published a report this morning on the age of perpetrators abusing children and young teenagers. We have known for some time that abuse is likely to occur within families, but the average age of perpetrators is 26, much younger than we thought. In some cases the abuse is by child perpetrators of younger children in the family. This should be of concern to everybody in the House because we know a cycle of abuse is repeated if it is not healed and the person rehabilitated. I seek a cross-government response. Education services need to respond urgently. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, needs to act on the influence of pornography, an issue which has been brought up in the House before, the early sexualisation of girls and poor role models such as Miley Cyrus. Sinead O'Connor's response to that recent incident was highly influential and much welcomed, but we cannot stand idly by and pretend it does not matter. The budget is on our minds, as is the recent referendum, but we must consider the health and welfare of young girls, in particular, because 97% of the children being abused are girls. I ask the Leader to put this issue on the agenda.