Church Victims Urged to Seek Help
By Goya Dmytryshchak
AN ALTONA Meadows woman, who was molested from age eight to 11 by a priest, says a federal royal commission into sexual abuse by the Catholic Church will weed out paedophiles and protect potential victims. But Mairead Ashcroft , who will this month address the state parliamentary inquiry into sex abuse by the clergy, warned it would be a tough time for survivors and urged them to seek help. "Just imagine your worst nightmare is being forced over and over and over and over on the news," she said. "That's OK for me because I've come to terms with it and I'm working on it, but for those people who have been holding it a secret — for some of them, decades — it must be stirring them up something shocking. "Some of them will be overwhelmed and some traumatised, but that's not the fault of the commission; that's the fault of their abusers." Last week, Liberal frontbencher Joe Hockey argued against a royal commission, telling radio station 3AW that "having a public inquiry would traumatise" victims. Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Monday announced that a royal commission would investigate child abuse, and how it was dealt with, in churches, schools and foster homes. Ms Ashcroft, who reported her abuse to police in 2002, labelled Mr Hockey's comments "naive". "Even the [Victorian] inquiry that's going on now will traumatise victims, but the silence is the most damaging thing and is the thing that will allow it [sexual abuse] to continue within the Catholic Church." Ms Aschcroft, an art therapist and post traumatic stress disorder speaker, urged people who were experiencing anxiety to speak to their doctor so they could be referred to mental health practitioners if needed. Victoria Police is seeking to extradite Ms Ashcroft's alleged abuser, Brother Bernard Hartman, from the United States. Three other people have contacted police, alleging the 73-year-old Marianist priest raped them as children or teenagers in the 1970s. Ms Ashcroft, who has since left the Catholic Church, suffers headaches, seizures and other health problems, and relives her abuse in nightmares. "I'll give you an example," she said. "I had a dream that something was happening and I dreamt that I got out of my bed to go and deal with the situation and I actually found myself — what woke me up was, it was raining. "I found myself standing out in my driveway in my pyjamas in the rain. "I have no problem with the Catholic religion. The problem I have is with the management; the business side of it. "I can tell you that I know some very, very wonderful people who are in the clergy and I have met them, I have worked with them; they've asked me to help them deal with things. They've been asking my opinion as a victim as to what they might be able to do to help victims. "It's terrible that they're all being tarred with this horrible brush. "Until the Catholic Church authorities become transparent and weed these people out, it's [sexual abuse] going to continue to happen. My whole aim in all of this is the protection of other potential victims. "That's the thing that's driving me."
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