THE number of suspected cases of child abuse in the west of Ireland continues to rise sharply Western Health Board figures have confirmed. There was a total of 489 reported cases in 1995 under the categories of sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect/emotional abuse, which represents a four fold increase since 1987.
The figures suggest that neglect/emotional abuse is the most common form of child abuse accounting for 214 alleged cases (44 per cent), followed by alleged child sexual abuse at 178 (36 per cent) with the remainder of cases, 97 (20 per cent), under the physical abuse heading.
The report notes there have been substantial increases in cases of alleged abuse in Cos Galway, Mayo and Roscommon since 1987, during which the number of cases increased by 114 to 489.
The figures were published in the context of a report on whether there should be mandatory reporting of such cases. The current arrangements are that anyone can report concerns to the authorities, i.e. health board or Garda. The figures highlight the substantial increase in reported cases that have taken place.
This could be construed as suggesting that reporting of such cases is not necessarily a problem, according to a community care programme manager, Mr Seamus Mannion.
The board is opposed to the mandatory reporting of abuse in the present circumstances. The chief executive officer, Mr Eamonn Hannan, said the issue was a complex social one.
A board member, Councillor Tom Hussey (FF), noted that in countries where reporting was obligatory, it had led to an explosion in reported child abuse cases but no increase in substantiated cases. Resources were used up chasing unsubstantiated reports, he claimed, to the detriment of services for the victims and their families.
A GP, Dr Greg Kelly, said it was desirable that medical and health care workers report children at risk to appropriate authorities. But mandatory reporting was a knee jerk reaction, he told a board meeting.
The doctor patient relationship was sacrosanct, he felt, and the measure smacked of police states. Where would health services be if a patient came out of a GP's surgery and said "he careful in there, he might pick up the phone and ring the guards"?
It could follow that doctors would hear fewer abuse reports.