Drop In Sexual Abuse Allegations No Surprise, But Sure To Rise Again
"The drop in reported sexual abuse allegations is no surprise, but they are sure to rise again, driven mostly by changes
in Government policy", Families Apart Require Equality (FARE) spokes person Darryl Ward said today.
"Allegations of sexual abuse peaked in the early 1990's around the time of the Peter Ellis trial when the abuse industry
contributed to a state of hysteria by making outrageous claims such as there being widespread practice of satanic abuse.
Lump sum payouts by ACC helped fuel the hysteria. We know of numerous examples of cases of psychologists convincing
children that they had been sexually abused by their fathers when they had not been. In some cases children who had
exhibited signs of bed-wetting, a common childhood phenomenon, were asked such questions by psychologists as 'where did
your father touch you', and when the children replied that they had not, the answers were ignored."
"At the same time, malicious false accusations of sexual abuse were a popular weapon in acrimonious Family Court
proceedings. They ensured that one parent could easily eliminate any chance the other parent, usually the father, may
have had of retaining reasonable custody or access to his children. However, these became less popular as the public
grew wary of the outrageous claims of the abuse industry, and false accusations of domestic violence became a much
quicker and more popular tool to eliminate a father's role in the family."
"However, accusations of sexual abuse will certainly rise again and there will be new epidemic of false allegations now
that ACC has announced it will reintroduce lump sum payouts for alleged abuse when there is no proof required of any
abuse having occurred."
"Canada is reeling from the injustice of a similar programme to compensate people alleging past abuse in institutions in
Nova Scotia. A total of 25 abuse complaints had been filed alleging 9 government employees had been abusers. But when a
plan was announced to financially compensate the victims, the number of alleged abuse complaints shot up to 1500, and
the number of government employees accused to 400. Payouts reached $35 million and countless innocent government
employees have had their lives and careers ruined."
"The odds of a payout under the new ACC lump sum scheme are certainly better than lotto", concluded Ward.
ends