Sexual assault centre concerned by number of children seen in first year
Children were the subjects of up to half of the forensic examinations carried out at the Sexual Assault Referral Centre in its first year.
Willow House has received more than 120 calls since it launched on 1 January – including six in the space of 30 hours last week – and has carried out about 50 forensic examinations – between a third and a half of which were on children under 16.
‘This is still a pilot study, but we really were not expecting to see so many children, so now we’re really trying to develop a core pathway for the children that we see coming up,’ said centre manager Katie Thomas.
‘When Jersey launched their centre in 2017, they also saw many more children than they were expecting.’
Previously, all children under the age of 16 had to be flown off-island with a police officer, social worker and parent or carer, but Willow House now has the facilities to bring the doctor to the centre, making it less traumatic for the child.
On-island sexual offence examiners can see people aged 13 and upwards, but a forensic doctor still needs to be flown in to see people younger than 13.
‘Our doctor comes from Jersey and is amazing, she’s so good with children and we’re hoping to be scheduling her to come more regularly so we can see a lot of children, and for any acute cases that are still in the forensic window, we have options,’ said Mrs Thomas.
A doctor can also be flown in from the UK if that proves to be quicker.
A specialist trauma-informed interior designer has decorated the space at Willow House, but there will need to be some amendments to cater better for children.
‘Because we weren’t expecting it, the day before we saw our first child we had to go to the shop to get some toys and colouring books,’ said Mrs Thomas.
‘We’ll change one corner into a more child-friendly space so they can sit down and play.’
Willow House can refer to psychological therapies and children can get support from Letting the Future In, a national charity which supports children who are victims of sexual assault.
Locally-based independent sexual violence advisers are currently supporting more than 50 people who have been through the Sarc in some way.
‘We’re trying to break down a barrier, because a lot of people don’t want to go to the police, with it being such a small island, people think that if you go to the police, you’ll know someone, so the self-referral process in place and it makes it a little less daunting if they can come straight to us,’ said Mrs Thomas.
