The Lantern Project has published a new booklet to help victims of sexual abuse recover from the long-term impact of the trauma they have suffered.
The new booklet, which is being distributed to GPs and medical practices across Merseyside, will help victims of sexual abuse understand more about the cause of the problems they have, and how to seek and get the type of therapeutic support they need to recover.
Graham Wilmer, who wrote the booklet, said: “When I needed help with my recovery from abuse, there was very little information available, which is why I set up The Lantern Project in 2000. Since then, we have worked with hundreds of victims, of all ages and from all walks of life.
“Among the many questions we were asked, time and time again, by almost all of them, were: ‘How do I tell people about what happened to me? Who should I tell? How will they react? How can I recover? Will I ever recover?’
“We have written books and training materials that answer these questions before, but they were written to help professionals understand the impact of sexual abuse, so they can help victims who have come forward and asked for help.
“This booklet is for the victims, and there are many of them, who are still struggling with their problems, and not sure how or where to seek help, so we are making it available in as many GP practices and other agencies as possible, where it can be picked up and read by people who want help, but don’t know how to take the first step.
“It’s only a small booklet, but it contains the answers to some very difficult questions, and if this booklet had been available when I was looking for the help I needed, after my breakdown in 1999, I am sure that my recovery journey could have been much less difficult!
You can purchase the booklet from the Lantern project's website.
Wednesday 14 August 2013
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Jonathan
ReplyDeleteThe Sins of Our Fathers is being shown on BBC2 on Monday 19th August at 23.20pm.
I was notified of this by the BBC Audience Dept. I had strongly protested that the documentary had not been shown to an English audience (57 million) - who pay the License Fee - and only to viewers in Scotland (5.3 million). The shocking revelations are relevant to us all. (I've also asked that the film be kept on BBCiPlayer until 2014)
One of the severely abused Fort Augustus students said on Radio 4's Today Programme on Monday, 5th August, that he had told Abbot Richard Yeo of his, and others, sexual and sadistic abuse by the monks in 2010.
No wander Abbot Yeo looks rather cagey on the film. He'd known about the terrible abuse for THREE years.
The Benedictines must be aware of the cost of priestly child abuse to the Roman Catholic Church in the US. Three priests, advising the US bishops in the early 1980s, estimated that the cost would be $1 billion.
After the 1985/86 landmark Washington case when the abused was awarded $1 million, the awards escalated - notably in the case of 11 ex-altar boys who were collectively awarded $119 million in the 1990's. The sum was reduced (after the Church negotiated)to $30 million. Today, some 3,000 US priests have been accused of sexual abuse. The figures speak for themselves.
As you rightly point out, the victims' CURRENT welfare has never been a priority with the Catholic Church. The cost of the victims' rehabilitation from their nightmare lives is INESTMABLE. Clearly, the average UK awards you mention - £5-15,000 - are ridiculous.
The UK Catholic Churcn must examine its conscience, THINK AGAIN and DO SOMETHING!
Patrick Glass says:
ReplyDeleteThe UK Catholic Churcn must examine its conscience, THINK AGAIN and DO SOMETHING!
What conscience?
And don't you just wonder at the whataboutery and the sheer detached and bewildering brio of the Bishop Emeritus of Motherwell, Joseph Devine, who in the Tablet artice of the 10th August said that an independent investigation into alleged sexual abuse by priests in Scotland was unnecessary.
“The vast majority of the cases we are talking about happened more than 20 years ago,” he said.
“Priests have been unfairly tarnished [by the sexual-abuse scandal].
“The percentage of priests involved in abuse is tiny but all the focus has been on the Church. What about the number of people in other professions who have been involved in abuse?”