Child abuse survivors campaign for right to be heard
Tuesday 7th February 2012, 3:00PM GMT.
Zibby Yates kept the abuse she suffered a secret for 18 years, but after telling her story to the Guernsey Press last year, is now the driving force behind the Voice for Victims campaign, which seeks to get 10,000 islanders to support its aims. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 1221381)
A CAMPAIGN aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse is launched today by the Guernsey Press.
Voice for Victims, a high-profile drive aimed at supporting the survivors of abuse and preventing others from becoming victims, has a number of objectives.
Through increasing awareness, demanding that protection and help for victims be prioritised and fighting for a zero tolerance approach to such crimes, this newspaper aims to combat the silence that allows the sexual abuse of children to persist.
The driving force behind the campaign is 36-year-old Zibby Yates, who has spent years struggling with the long-term consequences of suffering abuse as a child.
- Find out more about the campaign here.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
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Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
I wish Zibby all the best with the campaign
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Incredibly courageous lady. I wish her all the best.
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Such a great cause.
I have printed one off for everyone at work to sign should they want to.
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Yes…..a very courageuos lady indeed. Good luck with this campaign Zibby……….a very good cause.
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I hope you get all the backing that you need, thanks for supporting these children.
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I wholeheartedly support any campaign to get rid of any form of child abuse. However I am not sure exactly what the aims of this campaign are.
“More should be done to prevent child abuse.” Hard to disagree but exactly what do you mean? I am a teacher and a parent, please tell me what I am not already doing.
“Effective sanctions.” Again, hard to disagree but Guernsey stopped burning witches 400 years ago. I know we would all like to cut their xxxx’s off and hang them from the nearest tree but we live in a civilised society. Please explain what you mean.
“Greater measures to enable victims to be heard.” Hard to disagree but please explain.
“Laws to help victims.” I don’t understand how the law can help a victim. Please expand on this.
I would add that a close friend of mine was abused as a child and I can see the harm that has been done decades later. Equally, the insult “paedo” can be directed at anyone who works with children, especially men, and wrongful accusations can also do untold damage to people’s lives.
I sincerely wish this campaign every success but I think much greater clarity (and less emotion) is needed if it is not to become last week’s tabloid headline.
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The aims are set out in the first of the batch of news articles in the link in the bottom right of this page. I’ve linked it to this post too. The aims are as clear as they can be with such a difficult topic. I agree there are potential problems for those wrongfully accused but more can be done for children who are abused and the adults they become many of whom are engaged with a lifelong secret battle.
Zibby is clearly an amazing woman and I wholeheartedly support her campaign.
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/guernsey-press/voice-for-victims/
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Spartacus, it seems it is just me and you here now. No-one is interested in this “campaign” because sadly it is all emotion and no substance.
Let’s take the first point: “More to be done to equip children and parents with tools and knowledge needed to help prevent child sex abuse.” What does that mean? If we were going to spend £20000 doing that what would we spend the money on?
Again I ask, I am a teacher and a parent. What should I be doing that I am not already doing? Please can someone give me a good answer and I will sign and get my colleagues in the staffroom to do the same.
Sadly, the downside of these campaigns is that schools ban parents from photographing their children at sports day. A dad who wants to help with football is eyed with suspicion because he looks a bit wierd. Parents won’t let their children have sleepovers or go on the school camp because of a fear of “paedos.” Eventually we lock our children in the house to keep them safe. Is that what you really want?
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grumpy teacher
Your comments are valid and I don’t dispute the enormous challenges to improve the situation however I believe the primary benefit of the campaign is in raising awareness.
I’m not a child protection expert so I cannot answer your questions however I’m certain there is more which can be done and with greater awareness and robust procedures in place surely all the activities you list would be deemed much safer for both adults and children.
As for locking children in their homes, sometimes that is the least safe place for them to be.
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