peterellis.org.nz
April 3 2007

Sex abuse zealotry will not solve child abuse
Media Release

It is pleasing that the NZ Police at a recent media launch released 18 balloons in memory of 18 children who have died from child abuse since 2002.

All child abuse, and especially such violent child abuse, horrifies the whole community. Finding solutions to the type of abuse that these children died from would be a fitting tribute to their memory, peterellis.org.nz spokesperson Nancy Sutherland says.

What is however alarming and even sickening is that associated with the launch such violent abuse was used as an excuse by sex abuse zealots to promote questionable sex abuse programmes for pre-school children. Such programmes have no scientific validity and simply fuel hysteria about questions around sexual abuse. Instead of 'empowering' kids, the programmes fill their heads with grisly nightmares because of the over-zealous imaginations and fears of the so-called sex abuse educators.

Alison Maloney, from ACC, makes claims of horrendous rates of sexual abuse, presumably to help justify the programmes. But ACC does not claim to have accurate statistics of such sex abuse. Claims to the ACC of sex abuse do not have to be verified and there is nobody in ACC concerned about what percentage of those claims may be completely fraudulent.

Freda Briggs appears to be the main proponent of the proposed pre-school schemes. She is promoted as a child abuse "expert".

She has however published no research into the forensic interviewing of child abuse victims, and is still willing to promote the direct questioning of young children, despite current best practice. She is an extremist, who recently showed her beliefs by endorsing an Australian publication about "ritual abuse and torture" in Australia.

She has also recently had complaints lodged against her to the University of South Australia associated with possible irregularities in her research, ethics and professionalism.

The NZ Police should not let child deaths and other child abuse be used for other purposes by the likes of Freda Briggs. Child abuse is a problem, but the memory of the 18 dead will not be honoured by repeating mistakes similar to those that led to the wrongful imprisonment of Peter Ellis.

ENDS

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