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News & Events
"We need to normalise the discussion around male sexual abuse. If we as adults can't talk about it freely, than how on earth do we expect children to be able to come forward and report it?"
- Ken Clearwater.
Not a few bad apples—the barrel is rotten: Tom Doyle on clerical child abuse
Tom Doyle brings a wealth of knowledge, experience of both research and litigation, and a solid integrity to the examination of the abuse of children by clergymen in the Roman Catholic Church. He speaks on this subject with an honesty, and…
Women Receive More Positive Reactions to Childhood Sexual Abuse Disclosure and Negative Reactions are Associated With Mental Health Symptoms in Adulthood for Men and Women
Although disclosure of sexual abuse has become more socially acceptable for both men and women in recent years, there is much yet to be understood about differences in the disclosure process and associated pathology between men and women. The current…
One-third of childhood sexual abuse is perpetrated by another child. Shannon Molloy tells his story – and urges us not to look away
Journalist Shannon Molloy is used to sharing his story. In his 2020 memoir, Fourteen (now adapted for the stage), he wrote about growing up gay in regional Queensland in the 1990s, enduring severe bullying. He wrote in a piece that sparked the memoir: I…
State of denial: How police child abuse inquiries ran aground
In part two of a series on Crown Law withholding evidence from police Aaron Smale asks: how did the government and its lawyers behave when they knew the state was guilty of serious crimes against children? Under oath in front…
Male survivors of sexual violence and abuse (SVA): Barriers and facilitators to reporting and accessing services
Sexual violence and abuse (SVA) is most typically presented as a gender-based problem due to the higher prevalence and incidence rates recorded for women. This has led to male victimisation being overlooked in research, practice and policy, despite international statistics…
Women’s Refuge comes to aid of group dealing with violent men
On Christmas Day last year, men’s welfare worker Philip Chapman decided he had had enough dealing with police safety orders. The director of Nelson’s Male Room had spent six years sorting out a place to live and counselling for men…
Dilworth School sex abuse: Former teacher Robert Wynyard, 74, sentenced to prison
A 74-year-old former Dilworth teacher and housemaster has been sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment for historic sexual abuse of students in the early 1980s, as well as abuse of children after his tenure at the Auckland boarding…
Flood news ‘silver lining’ for school: principal
A leaked email has revealed a Dunedin principal said a silver lining to the deadly Auckland floods was keeping a story about her school off the front page. A pre-dawn blessing was held at Trinity Catholic College on January 28,…
A new dawn and new era for college
As a new day dawned over Trinity Catholic College, it was hoped the first rays of light also marked the start of a new chapter for the troubled Dunedin high school. About 20 pupils, survivors of sexual abuse, and members…
Blessing of school to mark new beginnings
A blessing is set to signal the start of a new chapter at a Dunedin school with a dark past. The Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, Bishop Michael Dooley, will perform a pre-dawn blessing of the renamed Trinity Catholic College this…
Waihi dad shares story of sexual violence with other Bay survivors
Thirty years on from the first time he was raped, Sam Troth regularly wakes up at night crying and with cold sweats. But after three years of counselling, the Waihi father of six is more than halfway through his mission…
Exploring male childhood sexual abuse survivors’ experiences of specialist counselling services
Global estimates suggest 5% to 10% of men report experience of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, male CSA is significantly underreported, with men being reluctant to disclose due to vulnerability, stigmatisation, homophobic responses and fearing a loss of masculinity. A…