Almost one in three people who experienced child abuse, and sought help, spoke up after at least a decade later, highlighting the need to remove time-barring from such cases, a new study has shown.
The report showed that 73% of 484 adult respondents to a questionnaire, who experienced some form of child abuse, said they did not seek any help.
Only 27% of respondents (133 people) answered ‘yes’ to seeking support. Out of those who sought help, 30% did so after 10 years.
As the law stands, crimes are time-barred for several years after the child turns 18. The period varies between two and 20 years, depending on the severity of the case and the penalty associated with it.
“While with time, children, or later adults, may have managed to possibly overcome familial pressures or fear for the unity of their family, time and thus legal prescription, is an issue, when cases of child abuse are reported long after these have happened,” the authors of the University of Malta study say.
“Whilst the person who has experienced abuse as a child may finally receive support with regards to the trauma experienced, on a legal aspect, this may mean that the time passed may mean that the crime is now unenforceable as the crime would be prescribed.”
The study, ‘Protecting our Children: Exploring and Preventing Child Abuse’ was carried out by the University of Malta’s Faculty for Social Well-being and sponsored by BOV.
The multi-layered research, led by faculty dean Andrew Azzopardi and Roberta Attard, included data collected through online questionnaires made available to the public, aged 18 and over, in early 2023.
A total of 484 responses were received, with the majority (83.7%) of respondents to the questionnaire identified as females.
When asked what type of abuse they suffered, 366 respondents (76%) identified having experienced physical abuse, 334 respondents (69%) experienced emotional abuse, 131 respondents (27%) experienced neglect and 275 respondents (57%) experienced sexual abuse during childhood.
When it came to reporting, the main reason why 73% of respondents reported was identified to be for ‘themselves’ to help them process this experience (22.5%), while other responses highlighted mental health issues (21.8%) and feeling suicidal (9.7%). Loneliness (12.7%) and finding help (12.03%) were also among the main reasons why support in relation to child abuse was sought.
Out of those 351 respondents who did not seek support, only 42% managed to remove themselves directly from the context of abuse, with 58% not managing to remove themselves.
Asked why they did not ask for help, the majority highlighted they were not aware that what they were experiencing was abuse. Being too young was mentioned among the factors, possibly related to the increased dependency children have on their carers. Other reasons mentioned were fear and shame, and the passage of time.
Over the years there have been several pleas to remove the time-barring from offences related to child sexual abuse.
The Children’s Commissioner together with the Lisa Maria Foundation and the Malta Association of Social Workers are among those who have asked for the removal.