Programmes such as the Stay Safe model are useful in encouraging children to tell if they had been sexually abused, but they do not necessarily prevent the abuse from taking place, a conference heard yesterday.
Rhonda Turner, clinical psychologist and chairwoman of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (Nota), said the Stay Safe model was useful in encouraging children to tell if someone had done something to them or if they felt uncomfortable.
"While such developments are useful, and have been proven to facilitate children's disclosures, they do not necessarily prevent initial abuse from happening.
"Current prevention models place the responsibility on the child to tell about something that has already happened to them; as opposed to creating systems that place responsibility on the offender to come forward, tell the truth and change their behaviour.
"In order to stop cycles of sexual abuse, we must place this issue on a public health footing, similar to how societal attitudes were changed about drink- driving in the US by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers."
She pointed to campaigns in the UK and US which encouraged people who "thought of harming a child" to reach out for help.
"These programmes have yielded positive results in their localities and are worthy of pursuing in the Irish context."
Ms Turner was speaking at the Nota conference "Developing work with sexual abusers - preventing sexual abuse", which opened in Dublin yesterday and continues today.
She said many people still saw an individual who sexually abused as a monster, "yet we here know that is not always the case. Those who have sexually abused are not all 'high risk' offenders and most would likely respond well to therapy."
