Lucy Duckworth, Communications and Outreach Officer at the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) gives an insight into how child abuse affects our whole society and the services adult survivors of childhood abuse can expect The problem Childhood abuse is perhaps one of the most controversial and 'taboo' subjects in society today. This alone is quite confusing, as, apart from abusers, the majority of society condemns such acts. There is no worse crime; no crime that leaves a longer legacy and no crime that has such a huge ripple effect on society. So why do we simply not want to know?. Perhaps, because we will have to admit that, as adults, we continually fail children? Because we will have to face the fact that people we know and love are capable of such evil crimes? That if we truly face the scale of the problem, we may have to ask, 'will we ever have trust in people or society again?' Is there hope of eradicating this nasty crime? Giving survivors the opportunity to speak out will go some way to doing that. The guilt for families of survivors is often so bad that the families themselves don't want to talk about it, are unable to support the survivor, sometimes blaming the family member who was the victim. This often makes them feel alone, as they would have felt when they were being abused and reinforcing the false belief that somehow it was their fault. Supporting a is very challenging and, for families, can often be intertwined with feelings of guilt and blame. All these negative feelings belong with the abuser, but for families and survivors, letting go of them often takes many years, if ever achieved. Abusers are adept at passing the responsibility for their crime to their victims and their families. We must not forget to provide support to the families of victims so that they can be part of the healing process. NAPAC is often contacted by many family members or those caring for survivors and very often they just don't know what to say or do. All society needs to be educated and stay informed about the devastating and lifelong consequences of abuse. As you can see below, the consequences affect us all, and to people who say I've never met an abuse survivor we say yes you have, you just didn't know it. How it affects us all Most of society's problems have their roots in childhood abuse, for example: eating disorders; obesity; homelessness; depression; criminality (over 70% of people in prison are survivors of childhood abuse); self mutilation; alcoholism and drug addiction; and suicide, to name but a few. It is a proven fact that we could reduce crime, improve healthcare and improve education by simply reducing childhood abuse. What about the survivors that do grow up and finally, well into their adulthood, decide they need to get help and face the past? Pastoral care for survivors and their families is patchy to say the least. Few would argue that six counselling sessions courtesy of the NHS is not going to even scratch the surface. Worse still, scratching the surface can be even more damaging to the individual if on-going support is not available. Opening that can of worms can have devastating consequences if proper support is not there for the individual. Support groups run by untrained people, assessments by a variety of psychiatrists, each offering different agendas and advice, (as many survivors have to go through to provide evidence for their criminal case) can be extremely damaging. Survivors must 'heal at their own pace'. Pushing expectations above capability can be very dangerous for long term health, and often evoke a sense of failure. It is essential to remember that as adults, the scale of damage varies from person to person, but it is often enduring and lifelong. There are five types of childhood abuse: neglect, sexual, physical, emotional and ritual. Some people fail to recognise the latter but we know from listening to many victims that it exists. …