Purpose
This Evidence Brief summarises the types of support available for child victims of sexual crime, and the efficacy of those supports
Oranga Tamariki plays a key role in protecting vulnerable children in New Zealand. Young victims of sexual crime are uniquely vulnerable, because their traumatic experiences can affect their long-term development, and because they are at risk of secondary trauma as they move through a justice system that has been designed for adults.
This Evidence Brief summarises the types of support available for children (including adolescents) who are victims of sexual crimes in New Zealand and internationally, to help them recover from their experiences and move through the judicial system, including the court process. The brief considers the effectiveness, strengths and limitations of different types of support, including specific supports that are available for tamariki and rangatahi Māori.
This Evidence Brief will be used to inform a policy response At the outset, this brief had a working hypothesis that there is a lack of specialised services and funding available for sexually abused children in Aotearoa. For instance, in 2019 the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) received $90.3 million of funding over four years to invest in specialist services for adult victims of sexual violence (MSD, 2020), but there is no equivalent funding available for child victims. This is in the context of one in seven children growing up in violent homes (Ministry of Justice, 2015), and high rates of sexual abuse of children in New Zealand. Prevalence will be further discussed in The rationale for support services on page 12.
Oranga Tamariki intends to use this Evidence Brief to inform a policy proposal, for the development of support services for child victims of sexual crimes.
Methodology
Evidence was drawn from a desktop review and interviews with a small number of key informants The Evidence Brief was compiled through a desktop review of academic databases and grey literature. Interviews were also held with five key stakeholders – three from the specialist NGO sector, including one Kaupapa Māori provider; one stakeholder from a peak body in the social services sector; and one former Oranga Tamariki social worker who had provided support for child sexual abuse victims.
Wherever possible, this brief has drawn on insights from systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
The evidence base has a range of limitations – but it is still possible to draw useful insights from it Across the social services, it can be difficult to identify causal links between a support service and a beneficial outcome for a particular cohort of people, for the following reasons:
- Support services vary. They differ according to the ethos of the organisation and the skillsets and approaches of its individual staff, and services also adapt to respond to the service user’s unique needs and context.
- Service users vary. This includes, but is not limited to, differences in age, gender, the nature of the abuse (for example, within or outside the family), and the duration of the abuse.
- It can be difficult to define what a good outcome looks like for child victims of sexual crimes, so research is frequently confined to quantitative measures (for example, a reduction in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder).
- Victims may not want to engage in longitudinal studies that track their improvement over time.
- There have been relatively few randomised controlled trials, and so researchers cannot state with confidence whether a person’s improvement is due to the support service provided, or merely due to the passing of time.
As a result, the evidence base on the effectiveness of support services for victims of sexual crimes is weak (Potter et al., 2002), and particularly so for young victims in New Zealand (Woodley et al., 2013). “We know from our experience that these services help people to recover – but it’s very hard to get gold-standard research that compares the life outcomes of people who receive services with those that don’t.” (Stakeholder from Specialist Sexual Violence Service)
Key Results
The evidence review found that:
- Support services are largely provided by specialist NGOs, but few specifically cater for the needs of child and youth victims.
- There is a significant shortage of Kaupapa Māori support services available.
- Core services available include:
- prevention programmes (for example group education and awareness raising)
- crisis support (for example helplines, counselling and referrals to relevant services such as medical specialists and the Police)
- advocacy for victims with Police, the medical system, the justice system and mental health providers
- talk-based therapies (for example trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy for longer term recovery).
- Some additional support is available through the court system and from Oranga Tamariki. This includes pre-trial preparation and court room support, and both Care and Protection and Youth Justice Family Group Conferences.
- Services are most effective in reducing the long-term impacts of trauma when they are:
- delivered early or soon after the abuse happens
- delivered by specialist people and organisations that understand sexual trauma and how to work with young victims
- accessible in terms of ease of access and informality
- well integrated with key government agencies and specialist NGOs
- supportive, with victims feeling heard, believed and empowered
- culturally responsive with abuse and recovery framed in ways that resonate with the young people
- stable and continuous and offer the ability to access known people and services when they need them
- involve supportive caregivers and whānau.