Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic), the peak body for specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services in Victoria, fully supports the Victorian Government’s apology to victim survivors and asks that it further commits to preventing and addressing child sexual abuse, which is, too often, still happening.
SASVic hopes that the formal apology goes some way to providing victim survivors with the acknowledgement that what they experienced was wrong and a terrible injustice.
The formal apology is a response to a recommendation made by the Board of Inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools. Public events will be held in Melbourne, Wodonga, Horsham and Ballarat.
Child sexual abuse is not something of the past. The landmark 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study found that more than 1 in 4 Australian young people aged 16-24 had experienced child sexual abuse. Specialist sexual assault services in Victoria regularly support adults who were sexually harmed as a child and children and their families.
SASVic acting CEO Jacqui Bell is
