CARI is a leading voluntary organisation with a proven track record in providing child centered specialised therapy and support services to children, families and groups affected by child sexual abuse.
CARI provided supported both directly and indirectly to 1054 children across all their clincial services in 2018. Click here to view our Annual Report 2018.
CARI’s Executive Director, Eve Farrelly said ‘Our helpline is the gateway into our services and is still being predominately utilised by mothers. We had 807 calls last year and the main concern for ringing was sexual assault, rape and sexualised behaviours. Of the children that we collected age related data from over our helpline, 34% were aged 10 and under.’
Eve Farrelly continued, ‘CARI’s therapy service provided over 2,000 therapy sessions for children and their families in 2018. Most of the children that we provided therapy for were aged between 7-12 years of age. Our therapy service continues to provide vital interventions for children who have been impacted by sexual abuse and children who present with sexually harmful bebaviours. Timely and appropriate intervention is paramount for children dealing with these experiences. It is unacceptable that CARI continues to have chidlren sit on our wating list because we do not have the resouces that will enable children to get quicker access to us.’
The CARI Child Accompaniment Support Service (CASS) continue to provide vital support for children and their families at the start of criminal proceedings, during a childrens forensic medical examiniation, and at the end of criminal proceedings, when children are giving witness testimony during criminal trials.
Eve Farrelly explained ‘What we continue to see through our forensic accompaniment service is that the younger the child is the more likely it is that the alleged offender is a family member. When the child becomes a teenage the alleged offender is more likely to be outside the family. Many of the teens we supported presented with a concern of sexual abuse after a social event with groups of peers.’
Eve went on to say ‘We provided support for 90 children through criminal trials in 2018. We recorded verdicts for 36 cases, of which, 67% were either a ‘Found Guilty’ verdict or a ‘Plea Guilty’outcome. Whilst we experience children still being subject to delays we are encouraged by the increase of children who are getting to tell their experience in court. The Criminal Justice System is an important tool of accountability to offenders. As a society we must continue to demand accountability to this type of crime’.
Editors notes
- CARI is a leading voluntary organisation with a proven track record in providing child centered specialised therapy and support services to children, families and groups affected by child sexual abuse. CARI responds to and reaches out to those affected by abuse and supports them during the recovering process, endeavouring to ensure that the child sexual abuse is seen as an experience but not a defining event of the child’s life.
- We ask that when reporting on this topic, journalists remember that discussions on sexual violence can trigger personal trauma in those receiving the information. Where possible, please make reference to CARI National Helpline number 1890 924 567 for anyone who may be affected by the discussion.
Contact details
Contact person for further information is Eve Farrelly.
CARI Executive Director: Eve Farrelly, cass@cari.ie, 01-8308529
CARI Clinical Director: Monica Murphy, monicamurphy@cari.ie, 061 582224 Website: www.cari.ie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cari.ie
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cari_ie