Professionals who work with sexual abusers will have a chance to network at the launch of the National Organisation of Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) on October 29th. The group is a registered charity in the UK and the Irish division will be the first branch in another country.

NOTA will begin its work in Ireland with a conference entitled "Should We Treat People Who Sexually Abuse: An Irish Issue". Professionals in the mental health field, as well as other practitioners, managers and policymakers from the public, private and voluntary sectors can attend workshops on such varied topics as treatment issues, the role of the police in dealing with abusers, and working with children with sexual behaviour problems.

The conference will also deal with the whole process of treating sexual offenders, from the investigative and legal processes used to identify and apprehend them to the differences in treating adults and adolescents accused of sexual crimes.