Insurance against child abuse claims

and payouts is apparently getting harder and harder to get - to the point where it might be impossible. That news in this morning's paper, along with some comments about the likely impact on some organisations, should be ringing alarm bells. It is the impact on organisations which concerns me the most. 

Allegations of child abuse have gone through the roof. It seems that almost everyone has an abuse story. There are people who have been abused, seriously abused and they need help. They should not need to pay for that help. They need care and support and understanding.

But there are other people who are abusing the change in our knowledge and understanding of abuse. They are claiming abuse and getting "compensation" when what may or may not have happened to them is something quite different.

I knew a man some years ago. He moved from another state to stay with his brother and SIL. He had cancer and his life expectancy was limited. Unlike his brother he had never done much with his life. He had allegedly been abused by a priest when young. Eventually he quietly left the house in the early hours one morning and drove his old car at full speed into a giant gum.

Afterwards people said that it was the alleged abuse that caused him to commit suicide. I wondered about this. He was an artistic and sensitive man and any abuse would have had an immense impact on him. But, he also had cancer. The last time I spoke to him he had just been to the doctor and he was leaning on the car just after alighting from it. He was fighting for breath from the sheer exertion of doing so. I stopped to be sure he didn't need help. He had responded with a slight smile and the request  "just wait with me a moment". So I sat there on the tricycle seat in silence until he felt he could move slowly up the short driveway and into the house. I'm glad I did that for him but it made no difference in the end. He was gone a few says later. 

I don't think people wanted to admit the pain from the cancer was too great a burden. It was more acceptable to believe in the alleged abuse.

The "abuse-excuse" is very common now. It gets used over and over again. People use it to explain poor achieving, criminal behaviour, mental illness, and the failure to get what they "deserve". I have no doubt at all that abuse does have an impact on our lives. It had an impact on me.  When I look at how it happened I can see how the abuse my mother experienced was something she in turn took out on me. It wasn't a "simple" thing at all because, despite the abuse, my mother did achieve something. She ended her career as a school principal. Her marriage lasted - for almost sixty years. My mother didn't run wild, use drugs, have multiple partners and children out of wedlock. I know young mothers who do those things who have not experienced anything like the level of abuse my mother experienced but they cause social workers endless problems.

So is financial compensation really the answer when an abuse claim comes in front of the courts? Money might be nice but does it make any real difference? Should we be looking at other ways of helping people - ways in which they can contribute to their own well-being? 

If we did that would there be more money for services to prevent yet another generation growing up "abused"?