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You are > Home > Children left to suffer
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Children left to suffer
A father was last week jailed for 12 and half years for the horrific and systematic sexual abuse and rape of his son.
The mother in the case is already serving seven years on ten counts of incest, sexual abuse of another son and neglect of their children.
The case has sent shock waves through the entire country and has prompted the writing of thousands of column inches and occupied prime time slots on the national airwaves.
In all of the comment the young man, who took the witness box and followed through with the case against his father, must be commended for his bravery.
In his victim impact statement he said that he felt that now he had a stigma attached to him.
Maybe in time and with the right professional help he will eventually come to the realisation that it is his parents who are stigmatised and not him.
An inquiry into the handling of this case is due out in a few weeks. Will it be published immediately? We hope so.
The past week has shown us that reports into the death of children in State care have remained unpublished for years.
The report into this case must be made public as soon as possible.
The Minister for children is keen to tell us that lessons have been learned from past cases and that recommendations from various reports are being implemented.
But this latest case brought into stark focus the fact that the best interests of the children came into play far too late.
In this case we heard previously that the law upheld the right of these parents to retain control of their children, despite ongoing abuse and the growing knowledge of that fact by various people.
We cannot even begin to image the horrors six small children were forced to suffer before they were finally taken into care.
Answers must be given as to why they were left in such an environment for so long.
All systems failed the children in this case.
It has happened before.
Will it happen again?
Various organisations have been campaigning for some time for the fullest vindication of children’s rights in the Constitution. This is apparently on the way.
But for the children in this case it is too late.
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