Suicide Risk for Abused Children
October 23, 2001 ·
A recently released report from Westmead Children’s Hospital has found that sexually abused children are up to 13 times more likely to attempt or commit suicide that other young people. Doctors spent 10 years assessing almost 200 sexually abused children aged 5-15 years in the largest study of its kind. The children were assessed at the time of the abuse, then 18 months later, 5years later and 9-10 years later. A control group of non-abused children were also monitored. The study found many of the abused young people were more depressed, had lower self-esteem, suffered greater anxiety and experienced more behavioural problems than the non-abused group. They were also at a much greater risk of suicide. Three children in the study committed suicide while none in the control group did. Dail Telegraph 26/9/01
Over 100 child pornographers subscribers have been arrested in the US and thousands more are being investigated after a 2 year operation against the country’s largest know commercial Internet chil pornography business. A Texas couple managed the business, charging more than 250,000 subscribers from around the world a monthly access fee of $US29.95. The business operated as a gateway to pornography sites including violent and explicit child pornography sites from Russia, Indonesia and the US involving children as young as 4. The business, grossing up to US$1.4 million a month, was raided and shut down in 1999 and the couple have recently been sentenced. Thomas Reedy received a life sentence of 1,335 years and his wife has been jailed fro 14 years. Since shutting down the business, authorities have been dismantling its networks and investigating subscribers. They have targeted regular child pornography customers and those buyers whose jobs bring them into frequent contact with children. 100 arrests have been made and up to 30,000 child pornography buyers are still being investigated. Warrants have also been issued for the arrest of 3 Indonesian men 1 Russian who acted as webmasters for some of the sites. Much of the child pornography was produced in Russia and Indonesia, although children from other countries including the UK were also victims. Few have been identified.
