Appeal For North Wales Child Abuse Victims To Come Forward.

ALLEGED victims of sexual abuse at care homes in North Wales have been asked to come forward to aid a fresh review into the disturbing claims.

Mrs Justice Macur is leading a review of the original Waterhouse Inquiry, which focused on claims at homes in the former council areas of Gwynedd and Clwyd since 1974.
The judge is looking at whether specific allegations were not investigated and urged alleged victims and all other interested parties to give further evidence.

Operation Pallial, led by Keith Bristow, Director General of the National Crime Agency, and the NSPCC have jointly rteceoved information from over 100 alleged victims since the begiunning of Novermber. The deadline for people to come forward is March 29 2013.

Justice Macur said: “To ensure I can thoroughly investigate allegations that the abuse of children in care in North Wales was not investigated in the course of the Waterhouse Inquiry I am seeking further views on the issues relating to this inquiry.

“We want to hear from as many individuals and interested parties as possible. This paper offers an opportunity for people and organisations to provide information or evidence that may help to provide some answers.”

Her review will run alongside a separate investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) that will look at the original police handling of the case and any other allegations made more recently.

The investigations follow allegations by one of the victims, Steve Messham, who said the original inquiry examined only a fraction of the claims of abuse.
That led to false child abuse allegations being made against former Tory politician Lord McAlpine.

Retired High Court judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse was appointed to head the original judicial inquiry that examined allegations of abuse of children in care.
The three-year investigation began in 1996, sat for more than 200 days and heard evidence from 259 complainants, of whom 129 gave oral testimony.

The report noted that for the "vast majority" of them this was the first opportunity for their accounts to be publicised and "very many of them expressed satisfaction" that this was achieved.

More recently, former residents of the Bryn Estyn children’s home in north Wales have complained that the inquiry, which reported in 2000, focused too narrowly on abuse by staff within the institution.

There have been claims that boys were taken outside the home for abuse by a paedophile network.

An intensive investigation by North Wales Police began in 1991, in which about 2,600 statements were obtained from individuals and which resulted in eight prosecutions and seven convictions of former care workers.

But speculation continued in North Wales that the actual abuse was on a much greater scale than the convictions suggested.

Mrs Justice Macur will look at whether the terms of reference for the Waterhouse Inquiry were wide enough and if restrictions were placed on the inquiry to protect any individual or organisation.

She will also consider whether witnesses were prevented or discouraged from giving relevant evidence.

The Macur review, set up by Justice secretary Chris Grayling in November, has asked for all responses to be received by March 29 2013.

If you were a victim or have information that could be relevant then please contact your local police force or a victim support group such as NAPAC etc.

Welsh Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse #childabuse #survivors

No Support For Welsh Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Molestation

A startling statement you might think. In truth there are agencies that work with both sexes, and agencies that work with females only. There are no agencies or support groups in Wales run by men, for men only. 

Is this important you may ask? I believe it is. 

It is common knowledge that men generally find it harder to speak out and disclose childhood sexual abuse/molestation. Society expects men to be strong, silent and to cope with all that life throws at them.  Men are not expected to show emotions such as fear, anxiety,  or any form of weakness.  Males are believed to always want sex, to be the one in control and to be the instigator of sexual activity.  Some common myths surrounding male survivors of sexual abuse are :-

That they must have invited the abuse and must therefore be homosexual.

Males that have been abused turn out to be abusers themselves.

Males cannot be victims if they were aroused during the abuse.

Males molested by females are lucky to have had the attention. 

All the myths above are total rubbish!

Males often cope with childhood abuse in different ways to females and therefore require specialised help during the healing process.  There is no choice in Wales. Whilst the support offered by the various agencies in Wales may well be offered by specially trained therapists, the support is not in an exclusively male only environment.

I was referred to one agency by my G.P over eighteen months ago. The support there is offered to both sexes. I received a letter confirming that I was on their waiting list about six weeks after the referral. I'm still waiting..... I chose to seek help myself, further afield. The nearest male only, run by non-offending male survivors for non-offending males was over three hours drive away in Swindon. AMSOSA (Adult Male Survivors Of Sexual Abuse) has unfortunately now closed due to lack of funding. 

During the first six months of waiting for my GPs referral to bear fruit I learnt some disturbing information about the agency I had been referred to. Apparently two men had complained about sexual advances from male staff members on different occasions. Though I believe these staff members no longer work there, it does nothing to instil confidence. 

Another agency I contacted stated that they would only accept me if they thought my situation merited it. 

So where can other men like me turn? I did write to the Welsh Assembly a year ago but was basically told I'd need to contact my nearest mixed support agency. Which did they recommend? Guess...

I am proud to be Welsh, and I love my country. I support devolution and was pleased when healthcare became a devolved issue. Unfortunately there is no representative at the Assembly to speak out for or support adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. We have a children's commissioner who is doing a wonderful job, especially at the moment with child abuse being so much in the news. Who will speak out for the adults?

Something has to be done to address this problem otherwise most men will continue suffering in silence, hiding their pain and living damaged lives. The emotional and physical side effects of sexual abuse in adults must cost millions to the N.H.S every year. Then consider the emotional costs not only to the survivors but also to their families and loved ones.  It is believed that depression and suicide rates in male survivors of sexual abuse are considerably higher than in other groups. What "price" does the government expect survivors of sexual abuse to pay? How bad to things have to become before those that run our country sit up and pay attention?