Mandatory treatment of sex offenders sought

At the launch of the organistion's annual report for 2005, Mr O'Gorman said only "three in every thousand sexual offences perpetrated…

At the launch of the organistion's annual report for 2005, Mr O'Gorman said only "three in every thousand sexual offences perpetrated upon children lead to a prosecution." He said the low rate of reporting and prosecution was the greatest bar to child protection and abuse prevention.

Mr O'Gorman said there were just eight offender treatment places in prisons and that a broader range of treatment options were required.

Mr O'Gorman said victims and their families were often left devastated by the processes and bodies they went to for help.

Unveiling One in Four's annual report, he called for increased support for victims and their families as well as the mandatory treatment of all sex crime perpetrators as part of court sentencing.

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Mr O'Gorman, who is running as a Progressive Democrat candidate in the general election stressed that a request for increased provision for services was not a criticism of the resources being made available by the Government, rather a reflection of the increased demand.

Some 1,492 women and men received help from One in Four last year, with the number of one-to-one psychotherapy sessions up 30 per cent and group therapy sessions up 55 per cent on the previous year.

The 2005 report shows a surge in the number of victims using the charity's counselling services.

Of all the clients taking psychotherapy support from the charity, 94 per cent were abused by men and 6 per cent were abused by women.

A family or step-family member perpetrated the abuse in 375 of the cases, while 32 per cent was described as clerical or institutional sexual abuse.

"Our criminal justice and child protection systems must work to encourage and enable the reporting of child abuse, rather than simply manage the small percentage of cases currently reported," he said.

"Government and those working in the area need to work to develop broader and more considered responses to sexual violence," said Mr O'Gorman.

"If we are to effectively address this issue we must ensure that we develop approaches and services which work to meet the needs of victims of abuse, their families and communities and which recognise that perpetrator treatment is an essential child protection measure," he added.

Additional reporting PA