Media Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

13 June 2011

Ignorance is Bliss When It Comes to Child Abuse

Child abuse prevention organisation, Child Matters, believes a recent survey by Research New Zealand into the causes of child abuse has some very ‘telling’ results. But these results may not be what many would expect. Current misperceptions are an excuse for most people to distance themselves from the issue and not see it as their problem.

Child Matters spokesperson, Amanda Meynell, says “The results of this research strongly support something that we have known to be true for a very long time - New Zealanders do not understand the issue of child abuse. Until we can get the public to understand this issue better and recognise that it is not just a “Once were Warriors” issue that most of us can completely distance ourselves from, we are never going to make progress on stopping our children from being hurt and killed”

The research showed that just over half of New Zealanders polled believe the cause of child abuse stemmed from cultural issues, while parental experience and economic factors shared equal status at about a third each. (People were able to nominate multiple factors.)

“Awareness and education is the key to stopping child abuse. But right now the public’s perception of the extent of child abuse in NZ and where it is happening, is grossly misinformed.”

“For example, most child deaths are at the hands of men, leading most people to assume that men are the predominant abusers. Yet experience supports the fact that most child abuse is perpetrated by women. However, when men abuse children they usually do more physical damage. “

“Many people point to child abuse as being just a Maori problem. We know that Maori are over-represented in child abuse statistics. Yet we also know that this is not occurring because they are ‘Maori’. Maori are over-represented in child abuse statistics because they are over-represented in many other factors that make their children more vulnerable to abuse – young mums, low education, mental health issues and poverty. Research shows that child abuse is occurring in New Zealand in all ethnic groups and cultures.”

Many of these myths and misperceptions around child abuse are a real barrier to facing and dealing with this problem head on. By blaming small pockets of society for child abuse New Zealanders are effectively living in blissful ignorance of the reality – that child abuse is carried out by all cultures, all socio economic groups and both sexes.

Child abuse is a community problem that needs a community solution. That solution needs to involve creating public awareness, training people who are working with and around children, and instilling in everyone that we all have a responsibility to keep children safe.

Child Matters has spent over 16 years providing community education around child abuse as well as providing specialised training to over 20,000 people working with children to be able to spot the signs of child abuse early and provide help.

Child Matters has a national public campaign for television planned that will help raise awareness of the issue and encourage everyone to take responsibility for dealing with it, but unfortunately it does not have the funding to roll out this important initiative.

Child Matters has also recently launched a resource book called How Can I Tell? an educational resource available to the public to help people know what to look for and know what to do. How Can I Tell? is available for purchase from www.childmatters.org.nz.

About Child Matters:

• Child Matters is the only organisation in New Zealand solely focused on child abuse prevention.

• It works to prevent child abuse by 1) speaking up for New Zealand children; and 2) educating adults to identify child abuse and take the appropriate action.

• Child Matters is a catalyst in communities, working to connect organisations and build leaders who are making positive impacts on child abuse prevention.

• Child Matters is an independent charitable trust with a cross sector view and influence around child abuse in New Zealand. It has links to all organisations who work with children and enables them to tackle the issue of child abuse in their local communities.

• Every adult in New Zealand is affected in some way by child abuse and, therefore, Child Matters believes every adult has a role to play in protecting children. Its child abuse prevention educational programmes are a powerful solution.

• Child Matters believes child abuse prevention education must be made compulsory for all key organisations working with children.

• Child Matters works with a range of organisations to educate their staff to identify child abuse and take the appropriate action. It encourages organisations to adopt a child abuse prevention education and staff wellness programme to demonstrate they take child abuse prevention seriously.

• Child Matters operates nationally.

• For more information, visit: www.childmatters.org.nz

ENDS

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