‘Misconception that child abusers are bad’

Press, 20 May 1987, Page 26

‘Misconception that child abusers are bad’

PA Wellington Children who are disabled or slow learners are among the most likely to be abused, according to a visiting Australian lecturer, Ms Lorraine Green. “It’s a misconception that child abusers are bad or evil,” she told the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists’ biannual conference this week. Certain children triggered a person’s potential for child abuse and 90 per cent of child abusers were normal people who just could not cope with the stress of raising a child, she said. Children over-repre-sented in child abuse statistics were ones who were physically or intellectually disabled, slow developers or those who were premature or low birth weight infants, she said. This was because they required constant care and supervision for an indefinite time. Ms Green said children could be abused physically, sexually, emotionally, through neglect or from the incompetence of parents or caregivers who may have drug or drinking problems. “Child abuse does not .have to leave bruises or marks,” she said. Mothers were more likely to commit child

abuse because they were the main caregivers, she said. Although it was hard to give exact figures, it was accepted in New Zealand that one in four girls and one in 10 boys would be sexually abused while growing up, she said. Ms Green said she did not believe that the number of cases had increased, but that more were being reported. Sexual abuse of children had nothing to do with the attractivenes of a child.

“It’s more a power issue,” she said. Occupational therapists and other professionals who worked with disabled children had to accept that child abuse did occur. They should not place further stress on families in developing unrealistic therapy programmes and should also be alert for signs of impending, actual and post-abuse. Ms Green was one in about 80 workers at the three-day conference, which started yesterday.