IRELAND is an appropriate host for an international conference on child abuse because of intense public debate on the subject over the last two years, according to the conference organiser, Dr Imelda Ryan.
Dr Ryan was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 11th International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect at University College Dublin yesterday.
"It's no longer a marginalised issue. We wish to learn from others working in different countries," she said.
Over the next three days more than 1,400 delegates from 69 countries will discuss problems like child pornography and child prostitution and debate the merits of mandatory reporting of child abuse.
Opening the conference, the President, Mrs Robinson, said she remembered working on a legal sub-committee on child abuse as a lawyer 15 years ago. Since then people had become more aware of the extent of the problem, she said, which was "that those who deserve our care most often become victims of terrible abuse, physical, sexual, neglect and poverty".
The opening ceremony was hosted by the RTE broadcaster Ms Marian Finucane with music played by the Dublin Youth Orchestra and the Irish composer Micheal O Suilleabhain. Ireland won the competition to host the conference in 1993.
The president of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAP), Dr Kari Killen, said the focus of the society had widened in its 20-year existence. It now included issues such as child labour, war zones and children at risk.
More countries had formed societies which were now affiliated with ISPCAP, making it a global non-governmental organisation, with 2,500 members. She said the conference was an opportunity for delegates to "inspire each other, and share our insights".
Today the International Working Group on Child Labour will present a report on its efforts since 1994. The report will examine the roots of child labour from the perspective of the working child as well as the outside expert.
During the 700 lectures, seminars and workshops, delegates will hear papers on children in war zones, including Northern Ireland. The question of whether violence in the North has produced a generation of shell-shocked zombies or out-of-control adult delinquents will be raised by Prof Ed Cairns of the University of Ulster. Other papers will deal with the children of Sarajevo, South Africa and Slovenia.
In a forum on the police, Det Garda Bernard Owens will argue that police models of investigation could be applied to child protection agencies to improve their policies.
And Det Insp Bob McLachlann, from Scotland Yard's paedophilia unit, will talk about child abuser "types" and the use of child pornography in the seduction and grooming of children by abusers.
This evening the delegates - paediatricians, psychologists social workers, child-care specialists, psychiatrists, lawyers and law enforcement agencies - will be given a State reception at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.
Tomorrow a panel of four international experts will debate the merits of mandatory reporting of child abuse. Another forum will look at whether adolescent sex offenders should be treated alongside their victims and victims' families.
Also on Tuesday afternoon the use of children as witnesses in court will be discussed. US court officials will talk about closed-circuit televised testimony and the preparation of child witnesses. They will argue that children can be as effective as adult witnesses if the legal system recognises and accommodates their needs.
A US-based priest, Father Stephen Rosetti, will address the question of whether abusers can be "cured". He will also raise the question of whether sex offenders should be registered with local authorities and the public warned when a known offender has moved into the area.
In a separate forum a US academic, Dr John Hunter, will present research showing that juveniles accounted for up to 30 per cent of rapes and between 30 and 60 per cent of child-abuse cases committed in the US. He will argue that youths who abuse are likely to be those who were themselves abused at an earlier age.
The Irish organising committee is chaired by Dr Ryan, from Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin. The committee is organised on an "all-Ireland" basis.
