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.”

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Help at last on the horizon for sexual abuse victims

An article from Te Waha Nui by Kayla Langhorne

Sexual abuse victims are hoping a review of ACC’s Sensitive Claims Pathway will finally bring them the counselling they need.
The pathway, implemented on October 27 last year, introduced a requirement for victims to prove mental injury with a clinical diagnosis, often requiring them to undergo multiple assessments before a decision on their claim was made. The system has been widely contested by professionals who say the guidelines effectively prevent victims from accessing counselling services.
Accident Compensation Minister Nick Smith announced the review yesterday. In an announcement on the Beehive website the Minister said: “I have been very hesitant as a politician to interfere in clinical decisions but acknowledge the changes have caused controversy. That is why I have initiated this independent clinical review to ensure best possible practice in this sensitive area.”
Paulette Benton-Greig, agency development manager for Auckland Sexual Abuse Help (ASAH), says many people who had contacted the agency were distressed and anxious because they were unable to get help under the existing pathway. “They feel that they are being invalidated and they’re having to deal with a really difficult system.”
Benton-Greig says a woman who was abducted, raped and assaulted was denied ACC-funded counselling on the grounds that she required more information to justify the claim, despite having a medical assessment that confirmed the assault.
Labour list MP Lynne Pillay has her doubts about the review, saying it is a “sham” and that she is concerned as to how long it will take and how meaningful it is. Pillay says the pathway needs to cease now. She says she has heard from victims contemplating suicide because they are unable to receive help. “At this very time hundreds and hundreds of people are not receiving the treatment and support that they need.”
Benton-Greig also said the current pathway needs to be “abandoned”. “They need to work with service providers to find a system that works and is effective and doesn’t harm people who need access.”
Auckland psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald, who organised the 4000-strong petition that contributed to the Government’s decision to have the review, says he would like to see a rigorous review of the system. “I think there needs to be an investigation as to how all of this has actually occurred.
“This has been a hatchet job and it has destroyed a system that thousands of vulnerable New Zealanders rely upon for psychological support.”
Benton-Greig says ASAH have been compiling anecdotal evidence from clients outlining their experiences with the current ACC pathway. “We will be using that information to submit to that review, to support our argument that the changes have lead to serious impacts on survivors [of sexual abuse].”
The review panel consists of Dr Barbara Disley, clinical psychologist Clive Banks, consultant Ruth Herbert and psychiatrist Professor Graham Mellsop. They are expected to report back to the Minister by the end of July.

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Sexual abuse victims set to suffer from ACC cuts

An article from Te Waha Nui by Alice Tollestrup

Cuts to ACC could have a lasting effect on survivors of sexual abuse as counselling support criteria are tightened. The new regulations will be coming into place from 27 October.
Under the proposed changes a sexual assault victim must now talk with three separate ACC therapists before they are eligible for counselling support. Prior to the ACC cuts, victims were only required to talk with one therapist for evaluation.
End Rape Culture spokesperson Miriam Sessa says it usually takes a bit of safety building to know what you are thinking is not going to be fired back at you.
“Many victims will be put off if they feel as though they are simply being shipped from one person to another.”
Director of Rape Prevention Education Dr Kim McGregor says many people do not realise for some survivors of severe interpersonal trauma such as child sexual abuse, their counsellor may be their lifeline.
“If their connection to their counsellor is threatened, then for some their very life feels under threat,” she said.
A second major change to the ACC rules is in the eligibility requirements for victims. Those wishing to get support will only be eligible for help if they can claim the abuse has lead to ‘mental injury’. This ‘mental injury’ will then be listed on the individual’s permanent record – meaning the victim will have to declare the mental injury when applying for jobs, benefits and education.
Sexual abuse psychotherapist Marylyn Tait said she had heard of a client who had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress after a sexual abuse incident. Years after the incident, when the client applied for life insurance they were denied due to the fact they were more likely to commit suicide.
Groups opposed to the changes are arguing that labelling a victim with a mental injury shifts the onus away from the perpetrator, labeling the victim as ‘crazy’.
An example was highlighted in the Taranaki Daily News last week about a grandmother who had received a letter from the ACC regarding her grandson who had been sexually abused. The letter declined the boy cover, stating ACC had found no clinically mental injury arising from the events described.
“An ACC psychologist believes one of the boy’s mood swings, tearfulness and sitting alone sucking his thumb could be due to settling into schools and a new environment rather than the sexual abuse events,” it said.
Counselling hours are also under question and the amount a victim can receive will be cut. The hours needed are to be determined by ACC with each individual client and they are able to cut them off at any given time.
A spokesman for ACC Minister Nick Smith said this was a clinical matter for ACC and the minister had no more intention of intervening over eligibility than he did in other areas of medical treatment.
“The origins of the guidelines go back to 2004, when concerns were raised about the effectiveness of sexual abuse counselling. That resulted in an $800,000 comprehensive research programme by Massey University, which led to the new guidelines being produced last year. There has been extensive consultation on those guidelines,” the spokesman says.
A group of ACC counsellors in Nelson have made a stand, saying they will not take on any new ACC clients as they believe it is against their ethics and unsafe for the clients.
“We as a group are ethically opposed to the changes as they are not safe for the client. We are not going to work under the conditions,” says Tait. The decision has not been made lightly, with Tait losing about 50 per cent of her workload by taking this stand. She says some counsellors will be losing 100 per cent of their work as a result. “We believe so strongly in this. It’s just not fair and we believe it is our responsibility to be responsible for the clients and make them feel safe.”
Tait said the group of counsellors are still awaiting some kind of recognition to their stand from the ACC, which has not acknowledged their move. “We are making an ethical stand and we are expecting a response,” she said.
The group said in a statement that they were not withdrawing their counselling services from current clients. “Of course we will continue to work with anyone to whom we have already made a therapeutic commitment.”
Dr Kim McGregor gave Te Waha Nui details of a letter written to ACC from an individual who had been violently raped by an extended family member at age seven. The individual stated: “I am absolutely certain that without the help of a counsellor, the pain and disability that I experienced due to the abuse I suffered as a child would have driven me to suicide.
“If my counsellor had told me I needed to see ACC’s shrink three times and be diagnosed with a mental condition before I could go to counselling, I would never have gone back,” the person said in the letter.
Sessa believes the long term impacts of these cuts will be huge for New Zealand. “Even if you look at it economically, it will cost the country more in the long run to be paying out for mental illness benefits as opposed to working on prevention,” she says.
A national day of action will be happening around the country in the main centres with Auckland protestors marching to ACC from the Albert Park band rotunda at 12pm, October 19.

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