Abused children in minorities 'not getting help'

Lack of support for sexually abused children in minority groups in Ireland is the focus of a major conference taking place in Dublin today.

The conference From the Margins to the Centreis being hosted by the charity group Children at Risk in Ireland (Cari).

It says children of Travellers and refugees, and children with disabilities are "struggling to survive without the psychological support that should be their right".

Today's conference is examining the high incidence of sexual abuse among children who fall outside the mainstream of society and examines how Ireland deals with its "disposable children " who don't quite fit into mainstream services.

"Over the past few years we have found ourselves working increasingly with children who, either as a result of their ethnic identity or their level of disability, do not fit neatly into any existing pigeonholes . . . thus they become a minority within a minority," said Cari psychotherapist and National Clinical Director Alan Corbett.

"If you are an Irish-born child who has experienced sexual abuse it is hard enough to access therapeutic and legal justice. Our conference will highlight the many additional obstacles to justice faced when children come to Ireland from other countries, who have experienced ritual, organised abuse, or who have physical or intellectual disabilities."

According to Cari, in the past five years, 3,000 unaccompanied minors seeking asylum have come to the attention of the authorities in Ireland. Some may be victims of child trafficking for sexual or other exploitation, and many have sought asylum to escape persecution and /or armed conflict, the organisation said.

Non-national children who are accommodated in private hostels are not getting adequate supervised care, say Cari, as the hostels do not comply with national standards of children's residential services in which Irish children are placed.

Last year 174 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers came into the care of the former East Coast Area Health Board, and those that were not reunited with family members are frequently placed in private hostels.