Protesters demand changes to way sexual attack survivors dealt with by ACC

An article from the New Zealand Herald

A "small but committed" group of protesters gathered outside ACC's Auckland office this afternoon calling for sexual attack survivors to qualify for ongoing taxpayer-funded counselling without a mental health illness diagnosis. Green Party MP Jan Logie led the demonstration with support from victim advocate, Louise Nicholas.
Up to 14 hours of one-on-one therapy is currently available when someone lodges a sensitive claim with ACC, along with up to 10 hours of social work support. Up to 20 hours of whanau support is also available immediately.
After these are used, ACC decides whether to approve cover for further support, should the person need it. That included victims needing to be diagnosed with a mental health injury relating to the abuse.
"Some survivors feel having to have a diagnosis puts judgment on them," Ms Logie said. "It takes them back to the the feeling that there's something wrong with them; that they're at fault.
"In other cases, survivors who need support are turned down because they don't have a diagnosis, or some don't apply for support because they think they'll be turned down."
She said a small but committed group of about 20 protesters gathered outside ACC's Auckland office at 12pm today.
"What we're asking for is incredibly simple. A counsellor can assess a survivor and whether they need help without them needing a mental health diagnosis."
The Green Party has also begun a petition which will be presented to ACC Minister Nikki Kaye.
Ms Kaye has said she believes the system is supportive of survivors but she will meet with providers to discuss possible changes to the scheme. That would include looking at different ways to assess mental harm to victims.
Ms Kaye said a "mental injury diagnosis" could be provided by any ACC registered and appropriately qualified assessor, which in many cases is the client's counsellor.
Changes were made in 2009 to the way support was accessed through ACC by sexual violence survivors, bringing in the requirement for a mental injury diagnosis in order to access help. After a 2010 review of the scheme and consultation with those working in the sector, further changes were made so survivors could have immediate access to support.

© 2016 NZME Publishing Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11647644

Being a victim is not illness

An article from the Herald on Sunday by Tess Nichol

Requirements for sexual attack survivors to be diagnosed with a mental health illness to get ongoing taxpayer funded counselling could be reviewed, ACC Minister Nikki Kaye has revealed.
Green Party MP Jan Logie will tomorrow lead a demonstration at ACC's Auckland office protesting the current process, which requires survivors receive a mental injury diagnosis before their claim for further assistance can be approved.
Up to 14 hours of one-on-one therapy is available when someone lodges a sensitive claim with ACC, along with up to 10 hours of social work support. Up to 20 hours of whanau support are also available immediately.
After these are used, ACC decides whether to approve cover for further support, should the person need it. That included victims needing to be diagnosed with a mental health injury relating to the abuse.
"We believe that survivors of sexual abuse should be able to get all the help they need without the requirement of being diagnosed with a mental illness," Logie said. "The advocates are very clear that it is still acting as a barrier, [that] the consequences are harmful and that it's unhelpful."
Logie said she had been told of survivors who had to retell painful details of their abuse to people they had not previously met so they could get the mental health diagnosis they needed to keep seeing their therapist, a process they described as traumatic and revictimising.
Kaye told the Herald on Sunday she believed the system was supportive of survivors. But the minister said she would meet providers this week to discuss possible changes to the scheme. That would include looking at different ways to assess mental harm to victims.
"I'm really keen to work with providers and opposition parties to see if there is a better way [of doing things]."
Kaye said a "mental injury diagnosis" could be provided by any ACC registered and appropriately qualified assessor, which in many cases is the client's counsellor.
"If the assessor is someone different, the client's counsellor can be with them throughout the process, including during the assessment to ensure they feel safe and supported, and can provide background information to the assessor beforehand if the client doesn't wish to speak about some things again."
Changes were made in 2009 to the way support was accessed through ACC by sexual violence survivors, bringing in the requirement for a mental injury diagnosis in order to access help. After a 2010 review of the scheme and consultation with those working in the sector, further changes were made so survivors could have immediate access to support.
Since the review, ACC has been working with providers to improve the care of sexual assault survivors, something Kaye said had been hugely successful.
"We've come a long way [since 2009]," she said. "ACC has given me feedback that a lot of providers have been quite positive about the new service. But that doesn't mean that we can't do better."

© 2016 NZME Publishing Limited

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11646773

Time is right to protest via social media sites

An article from the Sunday Star Times by Kyle McDonald

The past 12 months have been a great time for protesting. Internationally, Time magazine made The Protester its Person of 2011. And it's not surprising really. We are more connected to each other globally through our use of social media sites than the human race has ever been. The Arab Spring and the Occupy Movements have used the tremendous mobilising power of Facebook, Twitter and blogs to easily locate people who agree with their cause, publish their point of view, and organise large global protests.
Here in New Zealand it is a little different, granted. But regardless of the reason, judicious use of social media is a great way to connect, become involved and – if you believe something strongly enough – take a stand.
In the past three years a relatively small part of the health sector has been close to destroyed under John Key's watch.
The provision of treatment and support for victims of historical sexual abuse and adult rape has been funded and administered by the Accident Compensation Corporation since 1974. However, in 2009, under pressure from the National government to reduce funding and future liabilities, ACC staff, with help from some very clever people at Crown Law I'm sure, changed their interpretation of the legislation specific to "Sensitive Claims" to enable them to dramatically reduce the availability of funding for this very necessary service.
How necessary?
In New Zealand approximately one in four women, and one in six men, will experience sexual violence in their lifetime. That's pretty high. It also means someone you know has likely been directly affected.
So if you feel strongly about this sort of thing how do you protest and influence government in Aotearoa? If you're reading this in New Zealand there is a 50 per cent chance you're on Facebook or at least have heard of it.
What you may not have heard about however was just before Christmas a small group of dedicated staff at a small counselling agency called HELP, in Auckland, managed to get the government to provide funding at the 11th hour, in a little over a week, by skilfully leveraging the immense power of social media and, more specifically, Facebook.
The Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP service has been around since 1982, with the primary mission to support women who have been raped. It is primarily a crisis service, like a psychological ambulance. It helps them through the process, from the initial crisis call, to reporting, police interviews and medicals. Pretty essential, and no other part of the health or mental health system offers it. They're it, really, in Auckland.
So when the Auckland Sexual Abuse Help service needed funding to keep its crisis line open, thanks to an ongoing struggle to secure funding, certainly not aided by ACC's withdrawal of funding in 2009, it started an online petition and a Facebook page, and members asked everyone they knew to circulate it.
When they reached 7000 signatures, appeared on breakfast television to explain their plight, and organised a protest in downtown Auckland in the first five days, it became apparent that they had a lot of friends. However, the part that made the difference was to make it personal.
It was John Key's government, and so you should ask him to change it. Directly. He has a public Facebook page, so tell him there. And so on the petition site they posted a link to take you directly to his page.
Over the course of Thursday and Friday, his page was bombarded with thousands of pleas to fund the Helpline, enough that Key was asked to comment in a press conference on the Friday. This was only a week after launching the petition. I hope it kept his staff very busy.
Late in the afternoon on Friday the government, via the Ministry of Health, announced it had secured a funding reassurance for a further six months, and a commitment to secure long-term funding beyond that.
That is what you can do with Facebook. Not just post photos of your cats. You can also have a say in how the country is run. The Protester in our New Zealand context needs only a laptop, an internet connection and some friends. It's easy to forget that we all have the power to change things and that our collective apathy is the real enemy.
Otto Van Bismarck said that "politics is the art of the possible". However, I believe it's a sad indictment that the only way to get politicians to do the right thing is to make doing the wrong thing politically impossible.
Or is that just democracy in action?

© Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/columnists/6257552/Time-is-right-to-protest-via-social-media-sites

Sexual abuse survivors to challenge ACC changes

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Elizabeth Binning

A group of sexual abuse survivors plan to send Accident Compensation Minister Nick Smith a strong message this week through a silent protest over changes to subsidised counselling which they say are putting lives at risk.
One of the women, who was subjected to years of abuse by her then boyfriend, said counselling had been a lifeline, allowing her to start living her life again.
But with that lifeline now under threat following changes to ACC funding for sexual abuse victims, the woman is struggling and slipping back into a depression it had taken years to break out of.
"I can't go to see my counsellor at the moment because I can't afford to pay," said the young woman, who has been told she will have to wait until her case is reviewed before ACC decides whether she is entitled to any more counselling.
"I really do need to see her to ground myself and get some perspective, but it hasn't happened for three weeks ... Now it's too much - I'm crumbling."
The woman, a member of a group called Courageous Women, is one of dozens who will this week make their views and struggles known in a silent protest during Rape Awareness Week.
The members have all signed and written messages on T-shirts which will be taken to Wellington and given to Dr Smith by anti-rape advocate Louise Nicholas. Some of the women outline in their messages what counselling means to them and how the changes will affect them.
The new rules stipulate ACC-subsidised counselling is only for victims with a diagnosed mental condition caused by sexual abuse, and is generally for 16 weeks, subject to further review.
Another victim joining the silent protest is the Pukekohe woman who was subjected to a 4-hour sex attack when Roger Kahui invaded her home.
She said counselling had helped her through her darkest times, especially the court trial in which she not only had to be in the same room as her attacker again, but relive everything he had done to her.
She said that at times she was so depressed she had considered driving her car into the median barrier to end it all, but counselling had helped her get through the process.
She said it was unfair the new system would not make things so easy for future victims.
"What bugs me more than anything is these guys who did this are in prison getting 'rehabilitation'. Here we are having to beg to get counselling. It's so unfair."
The woman said sexual abuse victims were not like others who were able to protest in public. Many struggled even to get out of their homes following their ordeals. A silent protest was, however, one way of getting their message across.
Courageous Women facilitator Tania Blomfield said her role had significantly changed since the impact of the ACC changes started filtering down.
"I now spend a lot of time each month providing crisis support to group members who are not coping, who are self-harming or who are suicidal. This sort of crisis situation was previously dealt with by their counsellors."
The Herald revealed last week how a South Auckland mother died four days after her claim for ACC-funded counselling was rejected on the grounds that she had not suffered "a significant mental injury".
Dr Smith announced at the time that there would be a review of the new rules.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10642370&pnum=0

Government working hard to save ACC for Kiwis

A press release from the National Government by Nick Smith

The Government's reforms of ACC are all about ensuring the scheme is affordable and sustainable for future generations, ACC Minister Nick Smith says.
"The protest today led by the unions, the Labour Party and the Green Party claimed to be about saving ACC," Dr Smith said. "What they fail to realise is that this is exactly what the Government is doing through its ACC Reform Bill.
"Labour and the unions are in denial about the mess the previous government left ACC in. They are being hypocrites in now crying foul over those trying to save our no-fault insurance scheme.
"Labour's claim the cost-saving measures are all about business totally misses the point that it is families that pay the bulk of ACC levies. The Government's reforms are about avoiding extra levy increases for hard working New Zealanders.
"ACC's financial reports under Labour showed an increase in unfunded liabilities in their last term from $4 billion to $13 billion and a loss in the 2007/08 year of $2.4 billion. After this record loss, Labour recklessly extended the scheme to include suicide, self harm, seasonal workers and superannuitants while promising cuts in levies.
"It is a fact that ACC's claims costs over the past four years have risen by 57% - five times the rate of inflation - and to pretend that this can occur without impacting on levies is a fantasy.
"Saving ACC is what the Government is doing. The choices are putting up levies or cutting back on entitlements and the Government's approach is a balanced mix of both. The changes we are making will halve the levy increases this year and help secure the future of ACC for all New Zealanders."

http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?ArticleId=32045

Protesters to picket Nick Smith

Press release from the End Rape Culture Now! Collective

After a successful Take Back the Night march on Friday 27th November, women's groups and survivors are geared up to protest the National Party's cuts to sexual abuse counselling.
On Nov 27th, about 60 people gathered at Albert Park, Auckland, for a Take Back the Night rally and then marched to Myers Park, to protest sexual violence. Speakers Leonie Morris (Auckland Women's Centre) and Kate Brady Kean (Auckland Sexual Abuse Help) critiqued new ACC policies which stop survivors accessing counselling that could save their lives.
Women and survivors pledged to demonstrate against Nick Smith's ACC policies on Monday 30th November. He will be urged to abandon ACC's new “clinical pathway” for sexual abuse counselling. The protest will be led by the End Rape Culture Now! Collective (ERCNC), Auckland branch.
Until 27 October 2009, ACC was the main counselling funder for survivors of sexual abuse, sexual assault or rape. ACC Minister Nick Smith said in Parliament that survivors' needs would be paramount to the ACC’s Sensitive Claims Unit new “clinical pathway”. However since October 27th, many survivors have been notified that their counselling applications have been declined.
"We have also seen information from the Roundtable on Violence Against Women (RVAW) and are absolutely shocked that ACC would blatantly undermine justice by refusing counselling." said ERCNC media spokesperson Eliana Darroch.
The RVAW letter mentions that since October 27th, sexual violence agencies and providers Doctors for Sexual Abuse Care, New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists, New Zealand Association of Counsellors and Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers have been hearing horrific examples which highlight dangers for survivors.
These include:

1. A woman raped on a psychiatric ward – ACC refused her counselling because she was considered mentally unwell at the time of the rape
2. A child sexually abused by an older child – ACC refused counselling calling the abuse “sexualized play, and unlikely to have been traumatic”
3. A woman in Rotorua being told to go to Tauranga for counselling, as there were no ACC registered counsellors locally.
4. Counsellors now report dramatic reductions in the numbers of survivors obtaining counselling for sexual violence. (www.roundtablevaw.org.nz)

"We support the RVAW in encouraging the public to write letters to MPs; we also feel a need to take another step with urgent action protesting Nick Smith's policies directly, because therapy does save lives." ERCNC spokesperson Eliana Darroch said. "Nick Smith says the policy will be reviewed in six months, but survivors do not have six months."
"Counselling is often the only way survivors can face the trauma of asking for justice. By making counselling impossible, the National Party, Nick Smith and ACC are sending a message that survivors will have no support, and thus perpetrators will have one more wall of protection against justice. And that's completely unethical."
ERCNC also recently organised nationwide protests in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and a hunger strike in Auckland, as well as Take Back the Night marches in Auckland and Wellington against rape and sexual violence.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0911/S00325.htm

MP close to tears over stories of sexual abuse

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Simon Collins

National MP Nikki Kaye was almost moved to tears when survivors of rape and sexual abuse told their stories outside her office yesterday in protest at tighter rules for ACC-funded counselling.
The 29-year-old first-term Auckland Central MP told about 30 protesters that she had people in her own life who had been affected by sexual abuse.
"So I do have some understanding, so I'm going to sit down and work out what I can do in terms of raising this with ACC and with ministers," she told them.
When West Auckland mother-of-four Yvie Stewart talked about her lifelong struggle with mental illness since she was sexually abused as a child, Ms Kaye said, "I just want to hug you". Tears welled in her eyes as the two women embraced.
The group was protesting at new ACC rules which took effect this week, restricting free counselling for sexual-abuse victims to cases where a clear link can be proved between the abuse and a subsequent "psychiatric condition".
The rules also restrict counselling to 16 weeks at a time, with reviews by independent assessors to determine whether extra sessions can be funded.
Eliana Darroch, a 19-year-old beneficiary who went on a protest hunger strike from Tuesday until yesterday outside Ms Kaye's office, said abuse victims did not necessarily have a mental illness but still needed help.
"That [mental illness] is what counselling is meant to prevent," she said.
Louise Nicholas, who went to court to challenge three policemen who she said had abused her, said the new rules would bring huge costs to society because many women would be unable to get the counselling they needed.
Mrs Stewart, 47, said her four children now aged 9 to 20 would have suffered even more than they had if she had not been able to get ACC-funded counselling on and off since 1992, and intensively for the past five years.
"I used to cut and burn myself," she said. Her arms are still scarred. "I have attempted suicide and nearly died because I couldn't get the help I needed from community mental health.
"What they do is put you on pills. You start improving. Then they close your case. The pills only work for a little while because they are only dealing with the depression and not the root cause. The root cause is the abuse."
Ms Kaye said she could not guarantee that ACC or ministers would change the new rules but she promised to pass on the women's stories to them.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10606381

Nikki Kaye picketed by sexual abuse survivors

Press release from the End Rape Culture Now! Collective

An End Rape Culture Now! Collective member today enters the third day of her hunger strike outside National MP Nikki Kaye's office. Sexual abuse survivors have been camping outside the Auckland Central MP's office since Tuesday to protest ACC cuts to sexual abuse counselling. Survivors will hold a public rally outside the MP's College Hill office at 12.00 noon this Friday 30th Oct where Louise Nicholas will speak.
The End Rape Culture Now! Collective asks that:
(1) Nikki Kaye advocates for counselling for sexual abuse and assault survivors in parliament, and discusses this with John Key.
(2) ACC supports the ACC-registered counsellors to develop a New Zealand tool to assess survivors for counselling
(3) ACC ceases to require the DSM-IV as the only diagnostic tool to assess mental injury and that a public announcement is made by ACC to this effect
Hunger Striker Eliana Darroch said "Our hunger strike is symbolic of ACC denying nourishment to survivors of sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape. To take away the counselling we need to recover, is like taking away our food. Nikki Kaye is my local MP and should advocate for survivors."
As of Tuesday, survivors have already been receiving letters from ACC stating that their applications for treatment are declined, and that required to attend a formal psychiatric assessment with a psychiatrist. "Restricting counselling access delays recovery and prolongs the trauma" says Darroch.
End Rape Culture Now! Collective are wanting answers:
With 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual abuse in their lifetime, this is a societal problem, not a personal one, and therefore needs to be addressed by the government. “This is an issue of crave public concern. ACC and the National Party need to be held accountable for the changes they have put through. What advice would John Key give a rape survivor who was refused treatment or made to wait indefinitely? What are people to do when they can't afford counseling” said End Rape Culture Now! Auckland spokesperson Priscilla Penniket.
No funded alternative system of counselling support has been proposed to replace ACC's current system, for those who do not qualify under ACC's changes.
ACC Minister Nick Smith yesterday announced that the counselling access restrictions would be reviewed in six months. "Survivors do not have six months, they need counseling now" says Penniket. One sexual abuse survivor has already committed suicide rather than submit to a psychiatric diagnosis. "Survivors do not want a psychiatric mental illness label, it's all very well to review this pathway in six months, but these DSM-IV labels affect peoples lives in the long term" says Penniket.
DSM-IV stands for the American Diagnostic Statistical Manual. New Zealand ACC counsellors are wanting to offer alternative assessment models that are more appropriate to sexual abuse survivors.
Hunger striker Eliana Darroch is feeling physically weak but in good spirits with strong support from family and friends. It is her birthday today.
A public rally in support of sexual abuse survivors, and against the changes to ACC, will begin at 12.00 midday, Friday 30 Oct, outside Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye's office, 82 College Hill, Auckland.
For more information,
www.stopcuts.blogspot.com
www.youtube.com/endrapeculture
www.endrapeculture.org

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0910/S00420.htm

ACC cutbacks to counselling spark fight back

Press release from the New Zealand Labour Party

New Zealanders today began their fight back against uncaring cutbacks to counselling services for victims of sexual abuse Labour’s Victims Rights Spokesperson Lynne Pillay said.
“Thousands of people from around the country today protested at the cutbacks that have seen delays in the ability of people to access counselling, reductions in eligibility and cut backs to services,” Lynne Pillay said.
“Victims of molestation, rape and sexual assault have suffered enough, they should not be forced to endure an uncaring National Party philosophy on ACC entitlements in addition to what they have already been through.
“National campaigned in the lead-up to the election that it cared about victims of crime, yet its actions in denying victims of sexual assault counselling are uncaring and simply re-victimise those who have suffered.
“Labour is opposed to these cutbacks that attack the vulnerable for the sake of petty cost cutting.
“ACC Minister Nick Smith has repeatedly and cynically tried to mislead the public on this issue, claiming clinicians continue make the decisions on counselling.
“What he has repeatedly failed to mention that decisions on the length of counselling needed are not being made by those counsellors who are in contact with victims, they are being made by people sitting in Wellington who have never even met the victims, who have placed their trust in ACC.
“Nick Smith’s handling of his ACC portfolio can only be described as shambolic, uncaring and incompetent and sadly it is some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable who are suffering as a result.
“New Zealanders have had enough and are clearly rejecting the changes being made by Nick Smith, we can only hope he listens,” Lynne Pillay said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0910/S00247.htm

Day of action against ACC cuts

Press release from Young Labour

Today Young Labour will attend marches around the country to oppose changes to the ACC sensitive claims criteria that will allow only those diagnosed as having a mental disorder access to ACC funded sexual abuse counseling, says Young Labour President Patrick Leyland.
“ACC exists to help survivors, not to marginalise or traumatise them further. Denying survivors of sexual abuse the help they need because they refuse to be labeled as mentally ill is a disturbing move and we are calling on the Minister for ACC to reconsider this decision,” says Leyland.
“Being diagnosed with a mental illness can have a large impact on the life of a survivor, as many situations, such as job interviews, can often require the disclosure of such information.
“For many people counseling provides a critical lifeline in overcoming horrific sexual abuses and it is necessary for ACC to help these individuals. However, it appears that there is no commitment to helping abuse survivors and instead these changes make it more difficult for them to receive this much needed assistance,“ added Leyland
“Young Labour wants to see a society that opposes the culture of silence around sexual abuse, and gives survivors the opportunity to be heard. These changes will make it harder for survivors to take the brave step to speak up.
“Since the announcement of these changes, over 4000 people have signed an online petition calling for a stop to the proposed changes to sexual abuse counseling. In addition, many will march around the country today calling on the Government to reverse these changes, “ Leyland concluded.
Marchers will gather on Monday 19 October at the Albert Park Band Rotunda in Auckland at 12 noon; at the Cenotaph in Wellington at 12.30pm; at the Speakers’ Corner, Cathedral Square in Christchurch at 12.30pm; and at the ACC offices on the corner of Maclaggan and Clark Streets in Dunedin at 3pm.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0910/S00281.htm

Stop ACC Cuts march

A video from the End Rape Culture Now! Collective




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oczdxkujikg

Louise Nicholas at the hunger strike rally

A video from the End Rape Culture Now! Collective



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TfSFYPlGhM

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.

http://www.tewahanui.info/wordpress2/?p=2535

Survivors outraged at ACC's proposed guideline changes

An article from Voxy

Widespread dissent at the proposed changes to ACC's funding criteria for help for sexual abuse and assault survivors can be felt throughout New Zealand with a national day of action against the changes planned for Monday 19 October.
Marches will take place in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
"People up and down New Zealand are outraged", said Felicity Perry, spokesperson for the Wellington group that has formed to challenge ACC's proposed guidelines. Rape Crisis New Zealand estimates that one in four women and one in eight men are survivors of sexual abuse and assault.
"All New Zealanders know someone who is affected by sexual abuse and assault. ACC should be supporting them, not abandoning survivors when they need help most", Perry said.
The proposed changes mean that in order to get ACC support survivors must be diagnosed with an illness from the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, version four.
"Having to be diagnosed with a mental illness in order to receive treatment will further traumatize abuse survivors", said Perry.
Such survivors will have this diagnosis on their medical records for the rest of their lives and will be required to declare it if asked by insurance companies, banks and prospective employers, to name a few.
"It already takes on average 16 years for survivors of abuse to summon the courage to seek help. The proposed changes will mean that less and less survivors will ask for the help that they need," Perry said.
"It is hard enough living with the stigma of being an abuse survivor, let alone having the added stigma of being declared mentally ill," said Perry.
The effects of such stigma have already been witnessed with the recent suicide of a woman who was told by ACC that she needed a psychiatric report before they would approve further counselling.
The Injury, Prevention and Rehabilitation Act 2001 states that ACC is to reduce the incidence and severity of personal injury and minimise both the overall incidence of injury in the community, and the impact of injury on the community (including economic, social, and personal costs).
"According to its governing legislation, ACC should be helping survivors, not marginalizing them. Denying survivors who refuse to be labeled as mentally ill the help they need means that everyone suffers," Perry said.
"For most people ACC is the only agency to turn to in their time of need. Other agencies are underfunded and in short supply. If ACC is shirking from its responsibility to society, it needs to fund other counselling agencies," said Perry. "Instead ACC has shown that it is not committed to helping abuse survivors by creating obstacles for survivors to get help and cutting its funding of the Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation's 24-hour crisis line and call-out service," said Perry.
Marchers will gather on Monday 19 October at the Albert Park Band Rotunda in Auckland at 12 noon; at the Cenotaph in Wellington at 12.30pm; at the Speakers' Corner, Cathedral Square in Christchurch at 12.30pm; and at the ACC offices on the corner of Maclaggan and Clark Streets in Dunedin at 3pm.

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/survivors-outraged-acc039s-proposed-guideline-changes/5/27493