Forget Me Knot Day supports adult survivors of child abuse
Friday, the 13th of November 2009 has been named as Forget Me Knot Day by the organisation Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA) as part of the International Week for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
ASCA is the peak body representing the interests of adults who experienced abuse as children, through a number of programs and initiatives. The statistics on the range and numbers of people who have experienced such abuse is appalling: 76% of women and 72% of men with severe mental illness have been abused, 84% of Odyssey House participants who are in drug rehabilitation report having been abused, and 85% of women in Australian prisons report some form of abuse in their childhoods.
Access Economics published a report in November 2008 estimating the financial impact to society of such abuse over a lifetime, of $40 billion. Putting an economic value on such wounding of the person is just an exercise but helps some people grasp the enormity of the damage incurred. With an estimated 20 million Australians living with this painful legacy from their childhoods it is clearly a problem for all of society, to acknowledge and address.
ASCA made a submission to the Human Rights Commission Consultation and the United Nations seeking to recognise such acts as a violation of basic human rights. Child sexual assault is still widespread in this country with 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys being abused before the age of 18. Neglect, emotional abuse, and domestic violence additionally devastate thousands of children’s lives. ‘Forget-me-knot Day’ will raise community awareness of this situation, and gives all Australians an opportunity to acknowledge and help adult survivors to reconnect with their community.
For more information please go to www.asca.org.au/forgetmeknot