NSW: Groups rally against child abuse

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NSW: Groups rally against child abuse

SYDNEY, April 14 AAP - Child support groups will rally in Sydney today to garner supportfor a royal commission into child abuse in Australia.

Organiser Mandy Dunn said the rally would highlight the level of child abuse in Australiaand demonstrate the urgent need for increased funding to tackle the problem.

She said hundreds of people and representatives from 60 organisations were expectedmeet at Sydney's Town Hall Square from 1pm (AEST) before marching to Hyde Park, wherespeakers would discuss abuse in the church, child asylum seekers, youth homelessness anddomestic violence.

Members of the public will be urged to sign a petition calling for a royal commissionto establish the true extent of the problem and recommend solutions.

Father Chris Riley, who runs the Youth Off The Streets support program for Sydney'shomeless children, will be among the speakers.

He said Australia was doing little to stamp out child prostitution.

"Bragging about Australian laws to prevent sex tours to the Philippines is not answeringthe question of what is Australia doing about its 4,000 child prostitutes that start asyoung as age 11," he said.

"If we want to seriously break the cycle of child abuse in this country, then everyadult must take responsibility for every child and more pressure needs to be put on thegovernment to take action."

He said the government had failed to draft adequate strategies to deal with child abuseand continued to underfund support services, prevention and education programs.

"Youth welfare strategies are put in place on the run, with knee-jerk reactions basedon a law and order agenda," he said.

Fr Riley said 50,000 Australian children were assaulted every year, with the figuresfor abuse and neglect even higher.

"Contrary to public perception, 85 per cent of children are sexually assaulted by someonethey know and trust," he said.

"If people were serious about child protection issues, they would put massive resourcesinto treatment of this particular group as most abuse is done in the home by family membersor those close to the children."

For more information about the rally visit the website www.rallyforchildren.org.

AAP tnf/las

KEYWORD: RALLY