Life journeys of victim/survivors of child sexual abuse in institutions

242 Pages·2017·2.12 MB·English

Life journeys of
victim/survivors of child
sexual abuse in
institutions: an analysis
of Royal Commission
private sessions
For the Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse
Ilan Katz, Anna Jones, BJ Newton,
Elizabeth Reimer
Project team
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse commissioned and
funded this research. It was carried out by the following researchers:
Professor Ilan Katz, Ms Anna Jones and Dr BJ Newton, Social Policy Research Centre at
the University of New South Wales
Dr Elizabeth Reimer, Southern Cross University
Dr Tess Heintze, Dr Claudia Pitts and Dr Deena Rosalky, Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the final
views of the Royal Commission.
Copyright information
Katz, I, Jones, A, Newton, B & Reimer, E, 2017, Life journeys of victim/survivors of child sexual
abuse in institutions: an analysis of Royal Commission private sessions, Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Sydney.
ISBN 978-1-925622-31-7 (This will be supplied by the Royal Commission).
© Commonwealth of Australia 2017
All material in this report is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia licence.

Please see www.creativecommons.org/licenses for conditions and the full legal code relating to
this licence.

Published date
December 2017

Preface
On Friday 11 January 2013, the Governor-General appointed a six-member Royal
Commission to inquire into how institutions with a responsibility for children have managed
and responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.
The Royal Commission is tasked with investigating where systems have failed to protect
children, and making recommendations on how to improve laws, policies and practices to
prevent and better respond to child sexual abuse in institutions.
The Royal Commission has developed a comprehensive research program to support its
work and to inform its findings and recommendations. The program focuses on eight themes:
1. Why does child sexual abuse occur in institutions?
2. How can child sexual abuse in institutions be prevented?
3. How can child sexual abuse be better identified?
4. How should institutions respond where child sexual abuse has occurred?
5. How should government and statutory authorities respond?
6. What are the treatment and support needs of victims/survivors and their families?
7. What is the history of particular institutions of interest?
8. How do we ensure the Royal Commission has a positive impact?
This research report falls within theme one.
The research program means the Royal Commission can:
• obtain relevant background information
• fill key evidence gaps
• explore what is known and what works
• develop recommendations that are informed by evidence, can be implemented and
respond to contemporary issues.

For more on this program, please visit www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/research
Contents
Preamble 8
Executive Summary 9
1 Introduction 19
1.1 Private sessions 20
2 Research aims and objectives 21
2.1 Aims and objectives 21
2.2 Approach 22
2.3 Ethical approval 23
3 Methodology 24
3.1 Literature review 24
3.2 Quantitative information 27
3.3 Qualitative information 28
3.4 Combining qualitative and quantitative information 33
3.5 Limitations 34
3.6 Strengths 366
4 Literature review 38
4.1 The nature of institutional child sexual abuse 38
4.2 Disclosure of institutional child sexual abuse 60
4.3 Victim/survivor and family support mechanisms regarding institutional child sexual
abuse 65
4.4 The relationship between institutional child sexual abuse and wellbeing through the
life course 66
4.5 Conclusion 74
5 Profile of those attending the private sessions 76
5.1 Comparison between qualitative and quantitative samples 80
6 The nature of abuse experienced 82
6.1 The nature of sexual abuse over time 82
6.2 Perpetrator characteristics 91
6.3 Factors that contribute to child vulnerability 97
6.4 Summary of findings 122
7 The experience of disclosure 123
7.1 Experience of disclosure as a child 124
7.2 Barriers to disclosure as a child 135

Social Policy Research Centre 1
7.3 Experience of disclosure as an adult 137
7.4 Barriers to disclosure as an adult 144
7.5 Summary of findings 145
8 Informal and formal support 147
8.1 Support from family and friends 147
8.2 Counselling support 154
8.3 Support from the institution 160
8.4 Other support mechanisms 166
8.5 Summary of findings 169
9 Wellbeing through the life course 171
9.1 Self-reported impact of the sexual abuse 172
9.2 Coping and survival strategies 185
9.3 Life journeys of victims/survivors 192
9.4 Summary of findings 197
10 Conclusions 199
Bibliography 204
Appendices 209
Appendix A: Criteria for including and excluding private sessions in sample
Appendix B: Qualitative coding framework
Appendix C: Private Sessions Analysis Framework Report - Methodology

Social Policy Research Centre 2
Tables
Table 3-1: Selection of transcripts 30
Table 3-2: Redaction process 31
Table 5-1: Time period abuse occurred by age at first abuse 76
Table 5-2: Victim gender as a percentage by time period 79
Table 7-1: Time to disclosure by time period as a proportion of all disclosures 124

Social Policy Research Centre 3
Figures
Figure 5-1: Age of victim at first abuse as a percentage of total 77
Figure 5-2: Average age of victim at private session by time period of first abuse 78
Figure 5-3: Median age of victim at private session by time period of first abuse 78
Figure 5-4: Modal age of victim at private session by time period 79
Figure 5-5: Victim/survivors who experienced single and multiple abuse episodes 80
Figure 6-1: Gender of perpetrator by time period (n=3057) 91
Figure 6-2: Proportion of adult perpetrators and children who sexually abused another child
by time period 95
Figure 6-3: Abuse in each time period by institution type 106
Figure 7-1: Barriers to disclosure as a child by time period 136
Figure 9-1 Self-reported impacts of child sexual abuse by time period 173

Social Policy Research Centre 4
Abbreviations
CLAN Care Leavers Australia Network
C-PTSD Complex post-traumatic stress disorder
HREC (UNSW) Human Research Ethics Committee
OOHC Out of home care
PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder
SPRC Social Policy Research Centre
UNSW University of New South Wales

Social Policy Research Centre 5
Glossary of terms
Child1
Refers to child within the meaning of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as of
20 November 1989. Refers to people under 18 years of age.
Disclosure
The action taken to reveal or make known incident/s of child sexual abuse. Disclosure
can be:
• direct, in which the victim tells someone that they are or have been abused
• indirect, in which behavioural, verbal, written or graphic hints appear to be related
to abuse
• third party, where someone makes known that abuse is or has happened to
someone else.
Disclosure can be to friends, family members and relevant authorities in the institution
or to statutory authorities such as police or child protection services.
Grooming
Behaviour that involves taking a particular interest in a child and/or making the child
feel special in order to form a bond and lower the child’s inhibitions for the purposes of
sexual contact. Grooming can also include befriending of the child’s family.
Institution2
Any public or private body, agency, association, club, institution, organisation or other
entity or group of entities of any kind (whether incorporated or unincorporated), and
however described, and:
• includes, for example, an entity or group of entities (including an entity or group of
entities that no longer exist) that provides, or has at any time provided, activities,
facilities, programs or services of any kind that provide the means through which
adults have contact with children, including through families
• does not include the family.

1 Terms and definitions used by the Royal Commission: Terms of Reference Letters Patent 11 January 2013
2 Terms and definitions used by the Royal Commission: Terms of Reference Letters Patent 11 January 2013

Social Policy Research Centre 6