THE Centre Against Sexual Assault Ballarat has urged people affected by next week’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearings to seek help if needed.
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CASA manager Shireen Gunn said the commission would stir up deep emotions in people who had disclosed sexual abuse and those who living in the community who were yet to do so.
Ms Gunn anticipated a spike in referrals and a surge in demand for services across the board.
“At the last hearing we had a spike across all of our programs,” Ms Gunn said. “As well as people calling up who were affected by what they were seeing or hearing. There were some seeking counselling and others just wanting to debrief or question concerns they had about their own family members who they believed had been abused as they started to put the pieces together.”
Ms Gunn said a large portion of the people CASA are working with were adults coming forward about childhood sexual assault.
“It is never too late to come forward,” Ms Gunn said. “People will come forward at different times in their life when they are ready. We know with sexual assault most people don’t come forward for a very long time.”
Ms Gunn said CASA worked on the basis clients have complete control over the pace of their sessions.
“They can have a one off session or they can look to have ongoing counselling,” she said.
“Some people when they initially come forward may make contact and then they will disappear for a while and then come back because it is a process. To be able to process trauma and grief, you need to acknowledge it, look at it, see it for what it is and face it.”
• To contact CASA, located on the corner of Vale and Edwards streets, Sebastopol, call 5320 3933 or free call 24 hours 1800 806 292. Lifeline can be accessed on 13 11 14.
