Responding to Historical Child Sexual Abuse and the Needs of Survivors

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJudy CashmoreJudy Cashmore AO is an Associate Professor in Socio-Legal Studies at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney. She has a PhD in developmental psychology and a Masters degree in education. Her research concerns children's involvement in civil and criminal proceedings and other processes in which decisions are made about children's lives. The special focus of this research has been on children's experience and perceptions of the process and the implications for social policy. Judy has worked as a consultant to various government agencies and been involved in numerous state and federal government committees concerning children and families. Together with colleagues Patrick Parkinson and Rita Shackel, Judy is currently researching ‘The impact of delayed reporting on the prosecution of child sexual assault cases and the outcomes' under a grant from the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Email: judith.cashmore@sydney.edu.au.Rita ShackelRita Shackel is an Associate Professor at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney. She holds undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in law, science, psychology and education. She has worked as a lawyer, legal policy officer and academic in a range of settings. One of her primary research interests is the evaluation and reform of legal and social justice processes, particularly vis-à-vis victims of crime, with a specific focus on gender-based violence and children's interaction with the law. Rita has worked and published broadly in the field of child sexual abuse. She has a particular interest in the dynamics of child sexual assault and how victims and survivors disclose their assaults and the evidentiary issues that arise in such cases. In 2012 she received the Medico-Legal Society of Sri Lanka Oration Medal and the Professor CC de Silva Memorial Oration Medal for her work on child sexual abuse in Sri Lanka. Email: rita.shackel@sydney.edu.au.