Child Abuse in Luxembourg: Tougher Laws Called for, 352 Lux Mag, January 26, 2011

Child Abuse in Luxembourg: Tougher Laws Called for

352 Lux Mag
January 26, 2011

http://www.station.lu/?p=edito&a=external&id=104953

26.01.2011 - 79% of child abuse cases in Luxembourg are sexual in nature, most are performed by men and many are, scarily, repeat offenders. This has to stop, political party Dei Gréng said yesterday.

The party raised the issue, which they want to bring to Parliament for discussion, in light of of the recent rising number of cases of sexual abuse on children in the Catholic church.

But it is not just at church that abuse can take place; studies have shown that abuse can happen anywhere where an adult is in the direct environment of the child (such as school, home, clubs, leisure, work).

The sad situation is that many abused children are afraid of speaking out for fear of worse punishment or feel at fault for what has happened to them. Only years later do they often come forward to speak publically about their experience - by which time it is far too late to prosecute the offender.

Dei Gréng have demanded that the limitation period in connection with child abuse must be extended in order to be able to fully repremand offenders caught much later after the incident. They also said a compensation fund is required for victims, and that a statistical survey should be done for analysis of offender-victim relationships in the country. This way, they said, they can better determine the roots of abuse in the country and try to find ways of tackling it. Offenders must also be maintained to prevent relapses, the party advised.

Most importantly, party members agreed that independent points of contact with whom victims feel they can confide in must be established, and children must be better encouraged to report cases of abuse either to a confident or the authorities.