Madam, - Vincent Browne asks in his column of August 18th: "Will the act of viewing [images of child abuse\] itself cause harm?" We have no stronger case to make than the assertion that without exception every survivor of child abuse will answer yes, yes and yes again. It is this perspective that should occupy our minds and it is this answer which should be all the answer required.
The only scenario where survivors could conceive of giving their permission, were they ever to be asked, would be for investigation and conviction purposes.
This emphatic answer is based on the reality of being a survivor of child abuse when images of you being abused were taken. This is a reality of living with a constant fear: fear that images of your abuse are being viewed right now in ways that you can never control; fear that your family, friends and loved ones, your work colleagues, your clients and even the strangers who look twice at you in the street, may today have come across those images. It is for this reason that the abuse never stops.
Therefore, viewing this material is to participate in a survivor's continued abuse.
Vincent Browne also bemoans the fact that what he describes as "subsidiary issues" should detract from his main point. While we commend Mr Browne for raising this difficult issue and for demanding action on the control of these crimes, his "subsidiary issues" do unfortunately undermine much of the good he was trying to achieve.
Child abuse is a complex issue. Offenders are as diverse as society at large. One of the things we know is that sex offenders will continually seek to justify and normalise their behaviour. Unfortunately, therefore, Vincent Browne's "subsidiary issues" will take centre stage for sex offenders who wish to feel blameless, because they are "sick", with regard to practices and behaviours which Vincent Browne so rightly abhors.
It is for this reason that we must occupy ourselves with all the supporting structures, no matter how apparently trivial and "harmless", which shape a society where sex offending continues to be so shockingly prevalent. - Yours, etc.,
FIONA NEARY, National Co-ordinator, Rape Crisis Network Ireland, Quay Street, Galway.