We Need to Talk About Disclosure

Almost three in five first disclosed as adults

The Royal Commission found that research estimates between 30 per cent and 80 per cent of victims do not purposefully disclose child sexual abuse before adulthood. Of the 6,875 people who spoke to the Royal Commission during private sessions up to 31 May 2017, 88.9 per cent provided information about when they disclosed. Almost three in five of these (57.4 per cent) told the Royal Commission that they first disclosed as adults, and over two in five (42.6 per cent) said they had disclosed the abuse when they were a child.

It took, on average, 23.9 years to disclose the abuse

Men take longer to disclose than women (25.7 years for men and 20.6 years for women). Some victims never disclose. Triggers or prompts for disclosure were common reasons survivors disclosed as adults. Trigger events were sometimes unexpected, random events such as seeing the perpetrator on the street or hearing about the institution in the media.

Other triggers were life events such as the birth of a child, a survivor’s child reaching a similar age to the age they were when abused, and a relationship breakdown. Sometimes these were internal, psychological triggers that led survivors to disclose suddenly and unexpectedly. In many instances, trigger events resulted in distress that prompted the survivor to re-evaluate their lives. Many adults disclosed after hearing about other victims and wanting to contribute to a safer future for children.

About one in ten (10.3 per cent) of those who attended private sessions told the Royal Commission about the abuse for the first time, as did almost one third (31.4 per cent) of survivors in prison. The Royal Commission found that disclosure can be traumatic. It also found that the reaction of the person told may affect whether a survivor discloses again and the severity of their psychological symptoms. Survivors who disclosed as adults most often first told a partner (23.5 per cent) or a therapist, counsellor or doctor (18.4 per cent).

Disclosure is rarely a one-off event and is a process

The process of disclosure varies. Victims may make partial disclosures. Victims will disclose in different ways to different people throughout their lives. They may disclose that they have been sexually abused but not discuss the details of that abuse and/or reveal bits of information over time, not in chronological order and to a range of different people.

Even after they disclose their experience of sexual abuse for the first time, many victims find it difficult to share information about what occurred. After the first disclosure, many victims will continue to be faced with decisions about who to tell, and where and when to tell them, for the rest of their lives. In this way, disclosure can be a complicated, extended process that unfolds over the lifespan.

Victims face multiple barriers disclosure

Whether, when, how and to whom a victim discloses is influenced by their age and developmental stage, disability, gender and cultural or linguistic background. One of the most common barriers to disclosure the Royal Commission heard about in private sessions, which is also supported by research, was shame or embarrassment. These feelings can overwhelm a victim and have a silencing effect that can last for many years or decades.

Institutional barriers to identifying and disclosing abuse

In many cases, a constellation of factors leads to institutional cultures where individuals can perpetrate sexual abuse that goes unnoticed and unreported and leaves children powerless to tell anyone what is happening.

Institutions that are isolated from the broader community, that have organisational cultures that are violent, or where physical punishment and sexual abuse are pervasive can inhibit disclosure. These types of institutional cultures were more prevalent in past decades. Survivors told the Royal Commission they did not disclose because they thought sexual abuse was part of life, as it was so widespread and visible. Survivors also told the Royal Commission about the significant levels of physical, emotional and sexual abuse in historical institutions for children, such as residential institutions. Many survivors told us that, if they did disclose, they were physically beaten or punished.

Institutional policies and procedures that describe and provide examples of inappropriate behaviour, outline how to identify and report suspicions, and specify record keeping and information sharing requirements help keep children safe. However, if these policies and procedures are routinely ignored, not implemented or regarded as unimportant within the culture of the institution, it will be more difficult for children to disclose and for others to identify child sexual abuse.