RCNI Press Release 11 August 2004

Abuse is abuse is abuse Mr Browne!

Fiona Neary, Rape Crisis Network Ireland’s (RCNI) national coordinator reacted with outrage to Vincent Browne’s apology for child sexual abusers in the Irish Times on the 11th August 2004.

Fiona Neary said, ‘let us be very clear here, there is no such thing as harmless child sexual abuse. Vincent Browne made a distinction between the commercial exploitation of child abuse and child abuse which did not entail any commercial gain for the abuser. He argued that those who made no financial gains or payments were causing no harm. This assertion beggars belief.

‘Mr Browne’s perspective is entirely from the point of view of the abuser as he fails to grasp that regardless of the financial rewards or lack thereof for the abuser, the child continues to be abused every time the images of their abuse are circulated. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the child being abused and to focus only on the adults who exploit them. This attitude is dangerous, hurtful and harmful Mr Browne.

‘Can Mr Browne for one moment imagine what it must be like as a survivor of child abuse, when images of that abuse where taken, to log onto the internet or email and wonder if today images of your abuse will be back to haunt you; living with the fear that your family, friends and loved ones, your work colleagues, your clients and even the strangers who look twice at you when they pass you in the street may have today come across images of you being abused. This is the reality of being a survivor and it is a reality that is with you forever - the abuse never stops.

‘What Mr Browne fails to grasp is that child abuse does not consist ‘simply’ of the moment of abuse itself, its very nature and severity is because the abused will for all their lives be a survivor of abuse with all that entails. It is also accepted that child abuse is, in part, sustained by a complex industry and network. Right thinking people must accept that being a part of that network by viewing child abuse images, whether money exchanges hands or not, contributes to the continuation of child abuse. Survivors of child abuse, who as Mr Browne rightly points out, are in shocking abundance in Irish society, must be protected as far as is possible by the outrage of society, including Mr Browne’s and the Irish Times’, at their further and continued exploitation.

‘The Rape Crisis Network Ireland calls on Mr Browne and the Irish Times to retract his deplorable pronouncement on the basis of its lack of judgment, complete lack of understanding and the harm and hurt which it has undoubtedly cost.’

Notes:
• The RCNI is the national forum of Rape Crisis Centres, which provides a strong voice for survivors and is a catalyst for social change to end rape and all forms of sexual violence.

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