SOSA response to ACC review

A press release from SOSA

The independent review panel proposed 14 recommendations to ACC’s clinical pathway. Whilst ACC are yet to agree on all recommendations, SOSA welcomed the immediate commencement of 16 counselling sessions granted to "new and/or existing claimants".
Ken Clearwater, SOSA board member who also spent two years as a member of TOAH-NNEST on the ACC Service Improvement Project in conjunction with Government for the Taskforce on Sexual Violence, is pleased “the Government has accepted that the clinical pathway was damaging and wants to make changes”.
SOSA President Gudrun Frerichs remains skeptical. “Although the report represents very well the concerns of survivors and mental health professionals, the recommendations formulated are quite vague and give ACC a lot of room to dodge the items.” Gudrun is concerned that whilst the recommendations are a step in the right direction, any improvement for survivors hinges on the independent supervisory panel [yet to be established] to interpret those recommendations. “It appears that ACC has actually not had a change of heart but is rather bowing down (reluctantly) to the pressure of the review panel.”
There is no disputing that the recommendations made by the panel are a positive step forward but concerns are being raised about just how or if ACC will implement any of the proposed changes. Given the report by the Otago Daily Times from Monday, 20 September, ACC plans to cut a further 1150 long term claimants from their list.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and maintain public pressure for all those recommendations to be implemented,” said Gudrun Frerichs.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1009/S00125/sosa-response-to-acc-review.htm

Sexual abuse survivors applaud report which criticises ACC

A news report from Morning Report on Radio New Zealand National

Critics of the Accident Compensation Corporation's system for dealing with victims of sexual abuse are applauding a highly critical report into ACC's management of sensitive claims. Click here to listen.

© 2010 Radio New Zealand

Dancing star supports abuse summit

A news report from TVNZ

A Kiwi celebrity is putting his weight behind New Zealand's first ever Sexual Abuse Survivors' Summit drawing on his personal experience to help others.
Aaron Gilmore of Dancing with the Stars fame was abused for more than five years and will draw on his experience to be a key speaker at the summit tomorrow.
He was just 12-years-old when he was first sexually abused by a woman 23 years his senior.
"When I first met her she was very, very kind and caring so to have someone that was showing that interest, it was like a second mum," Gilmore says.
The woman continued the abuse for more than five years.
"There's a real learned helplessness about it and also I saw it as my fault," Gilmore says.
However, the abuse did not stop Gilmore from going on to have a successful dancing career and now he is using that profile to raise awareness about male sexual abuse ahead of the summit.
Organising committe member Gudrun Frerichs says it is often much more acceptable for females to go to counselling or to seek help but males tend to deal with things by themselves.
It is thought the number of boys abused before they hit 16 is around one in eight but Ken Clearwater who heads the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust says it is closer to one in three.
"It's just the fact that men and boys really struggle to come forward in our male culture to talk about being a victim of childhood sexual abuse or even adult men who've been raped, it's really hard for them to come forward and disclose that" says Clearwater.
Some researchers suggest the country's prisons hold many male sexual abuse victims, which is because studies show males often respond to their abuse violently later in life.
The summit already has around 100 people registered to attend and less than a quarter of those are men.

Copyright 2010 Television New Zealand Limited
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/dancing-star-supports-abuse-summit-3598432

Sexual abuse survivors fight back after support is cut

An article from Te Waha Nui by Michelle Norton

Feeling neglected by the Government’s ACC shake-up, a group of sexual abuse survivors, counsellors and therapists have taken action.
Those who have been sexually abused are now required to prove a mental illness to get help and are now only given 16 weeks of counselling.
Survivors of Sexual Abuse NZ (SOSA) have organised a summit to be held on June 20 at AUT University’s Akoranga campus.
Karen Andersen, one of the organisers, said the organising team was a group of around 10 people who were either therapists or sexual abuse survivors and some who were both.
Yvie Stewart, a sexual abuse survivor and one of the sunmit organisers, said they were hoping to fill up the lecture theatre with around 200 people.
The summit programme has several guest speakers, including sexual abuse survivor Louise Nicholas, Labour MP Lynne Pillay, Denise Ritchie from End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Commercial Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) and Ken Clearwater from Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust (MSSAT).
Stewart is also going to speak and she said it had taken her a while to be able to do so. “It was like stepping through an iron door that I had in front of me and coming through it.”
She said it was more than just a summit. “It is about how we can help where the Government is not.” She said they wanted to send a message out to those who have been sexually abused were not seeking help.
Andersen agreed. “Many survivors feel so alone and have been put back socially.” She said everyone affected by sexual abuse had a different healing experience and recovery was about “finding one’s own strength”.
Labour MP and associate spokesperson for victim’s rights Lynne Pillay said she willingly signed up to speak at the summit. “I am very in awe and impressed with all the work that’s being done. I really welcome the summit.’
Pillay said she encouraged people to take part in the independent review of ACC in June.
Andersen said there may be a small number attending the summit that want to take political action such as write letters to Parliament but this was not the intent. She said they were hoping to provide “a sense of wellbeing, a sense of being inspired”. “They can see that others have forged ahead.”
Pillay said survivors of sexual abuse had been badly treated by the policy changes. “We need to return to the previous system where survivors were given the help they need and deserve.
“The majority of people are either being denied help or are languishing, waiting to see whether they will get help.
“I think that the way they’ve been treated is abhorrent.”

http://www.tewahanui.info/wordpress2/?p=3519

Compo changes shock

An article from the Waikato Times by Maryanne Twentyman

An international expert on sexual abuse recovery is shocked by new ACC guidelines that require victims to be diagnosed with a mental injury to be eligible for compensation.
American Mike Lew is a world renowned psychotherapist from Boston who was in Hamilton today leading a workshop for health professionals who work with male survivors of sexual abuse. He said New Zealand's compensation system was once a world leader.
"I travel the world taking these types of workshops and ACC's enlightened stance on sexual abuse survivors was pioneering in how it supported survivors, which in turn facilitated positive growth and healing," Mr Lew said.
But ACC's new criteria were a "real tragedy that would cause tremendous suffering," he said.
It also angers Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust (MSSAT) national manager Ken Clearwater.
"I have been to international workshops with Mike (Lew) and people were blown away by ACC's stance in the past – but now the Government is getting it all wrong and my major concern is that Nick Smith and the prime minister have been given misleading information in terms of clinical pathways," Mr Clearwater said.
More than 80 doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and counsellors were taking part in today's workshop at Hamilton Gardens, where Mr Lew hopes to change attitudes about the way male survivors are supported by all health professionals.
"A lot of the pioneering work done on sexual abuse recovery was mainly by women for women – but we need to look at new models and recognise the different needs of males," Mr Lew said.
One in six males is thought to have suffered some form of sexual abuse including child sexual abuse, rape, physical violence, emotional abuse and neglect.
Mr Lew said there was a lot of "misinformation, fear and shame about what disclosure would mean" for male survivors. "People wrongly believe a boy that's abused grows up to be an abuser – but that is not true.
"Most of them grow up to be protectors, it's a small minority that go the other way" he said.
While Mr Lew works with both men and women who have been abused, he said males found it much harder to come forward.
"It's important to emphasise the strengths of male socialisation and not try and fit men into a model that doesn't fit," he said.
It was important for health professionals to create respect and safety for clients.
"After that survivors themselves can go on to do extraordinary work. I think it's important to remember that for both males and females recovery is real – all of the work they do does pay off and life does get better," he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3659195/Compo-changes-shock