More children are reporting sexual abuse and bullying following the introduction of the controversial Stay Safe programme in schools, according to one of its initiators.
Dr Maria Lawlor, a consultant child psychiatrist with the North Eastern Health Board, told the Association of Health Boards the programme gave children a way to explain the horrors of abuse.
"In the early days it became very clear to me and my colleagues dealing with child sex abuse that children had no words, no language and they didn't know how to tell what had happened to them. Adults didn't know how to listen and they couldn't hear what they [the children] had said."
Dr Lawlor also claimed Stay Safe - which attracted trenchant criticism from some parents and teachers for what they felt was explicit content - had allowed children to realise they were not to blame for abuse.
"From the referrals to child sex abuse units, it was found that children who were taught the Stay Safe programme were more likely to disclose child sexual abuse and to make disclosure to teachers. It was also found that teachers who taught the programme initiated more referrals to social services about all kinds of abuse; not just sexual abuse.
"The children taught the programme made more purposeful disclosures. They are equipped to explain what happened to them. They can use drawings; different ways to describe the experience. They have a lot more language to explain what happened."
Dr Lawlor said the programme also encouraged children to disclose bullying. "I am a child psychiatrist in the north-east, and we get a number of kids presenting with depression, suicidal behaviour and severe anxiety problems. We notice that quite a number of these kids have problems with bullying in schools, and we are quite concerned about it.
"We used to run day programmes for suicidal adolescents and we found that half of them would have problems with bullying, even though they may have other problems as well. We did research and found a link between children encountering bullying and suicidal thoughts."