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Most abused know assailants

Chi Hui-jung, the chief executive officer of the Garden of Hope Foundation, introduces a cuddly doll with a heart-shaped recorder at a press conference yesterday as part of a drive for funds to expand abuse counseling services to the entire country. PHOTO: LUO PEI-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES

The Dandelion Treatment Center for Children and Youth (蒲公英治療中心) yesterday called for increased awareness about sexual abuse in a report detailing its 10 years of service.

The center said that over the years it has found that victims of sexual abuse in the home form the largest category among its cases, accounting for between 40 percent and 50 percent of the center's clients.

Domestic sexual-abuse cases are defined as those where sexual abuse is instigated by family members or friends of the family, and about 70 percent of the center's clients were sexually abused by people they knew.

The center, a subsidiary of the Garden of Hope Foundation, was established in 1994 to provide counseling services for sexually abused women and children.

It was the first center in Taiwan to provide this service to victims of sexual abuse.

The center has counseled a total of 11,696 people since 1994, with 1057 of those cases dating from last year.

"About 70 percent of our cases come to us as adults; however, 60 percent to 70 percent of the people we see experienced sexual abuse under the age of 12," said center director Wang Yueh-hao (王玥好).

"[Sixty] percent to 70 percent of the people we see experienced sexual abuse under the age of 12."

Wang Yueh-hao, director of the Dandelion Treatment Center for Children and Youth

Wang said that it was rare for children to seek help because children most frequently speak about the abuse to the adults around them first.

Wang said the adults who are told about the abuse may trivialize it by thinking that the children would "get over" the pain with time.

She called on the public to help children seek professional assistance if any abuse was suspected.

According to statistics compiled for 2001, now available on the Web site of the Ministry of the Interior's Committee for Sexual and Domestic Abuse, the total number of reported sexual-abuse victims nationwide came to about 3000, with 70 percent of victims under the age of 18.

The center estimates that the actual number of cases of sexual abuse is seven to 10 times the number of reported cases.

The center used the press conference to launch a series of cuddly dolls to raise funds.

With these funds the center hopes to extend its work to other parts of the country, including central and southern Taiwan.

The line of dolls includes four dolls with yarn hair and outstretched arms. The dolls come with heart-shaped recorders and cost either NT$1,000 per doll or NT$3,500 for a set of four.

The group hopes to raise NT$60 million from sales.

To buy dolls or learn more about the center, call 02-2367-9595 or visit www.goh.org.tw.
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