Discussing child sexual abuse remains a social taboo! This means that the problem remains under-acknowledged further stigmatising victims. As an advocate for the prevention of child sexual abuse in Tasmania I have sometimes found myself walking the road less travelled, and it has been a lonely and isolating journey.

Silence only benefits the perpetrators and their enablers, so I have often pondered why good people are so reluctant to be associated in any public way with improving the safeguarding of vulnerable children. When conducting LOUDfence CSA awareness activities I know I have a virtual ‘cheer squad’ but none will turn up on ‘game day’, so to speak. My sense is that they fear the consequences of taking a stand on a matter that is so controversial in this small Island community. Tasmania seems to have been a safe haven for paedophiles and child sex offenders for decades and the impacts are far-reaching and inter-generational. There is a lot at stake for a lot of people!

There is a saying that the ‘truth will set you free’ but if you are a child sex offender the truth may see you in prison!

Curiously other parts of Australia have seen the community more willing to publicly mobilise to raise awareness of child sexual abuse. In the Victorian regional city of Ballarat for example squadrons of parents and other concerned community members have been publicly agitating over decades to force acknowledgment of historical and contemporary child sexual abuse in their schools, churches and civil institutions. Ribbons have festooned Catholic Churches in Ballarat for almost 10 years.

That having been said, and to be fair, there have been occasions when mainstream funded services in Tasmania have convened events like this one (pictured below) acknowledging the Commission of Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Government Institutions. As such, it would be wrong to conclude that the community is indifferent to the scourge of CSA.

On reflection, It is probably necessary to differentiate between advocacy and activism. Establishing a ribbon fence at an institution proving recalcitrant seems to be viewed as activism, and a step too far for respectable Tasmanians.

Conversation starters

1. Does activism have a role in changing the culture in Tasmania that has been tolerant of child sexual abuse?
2. Would you personally get involved in a public event or initiative seeking to raise awareness of child sexual abuse?