Crime ombudsman marks Child Day with plea for better help for abuse victims

Published on November 19, 2009; Published on July 1, 2010
The Canadian Press ~ The News

Topics :: Canada , U.S.

Canada's federal advocate for crime victims is marking National Child Day tomorrow with a request for politicians: Give abused children an easier place to tell their story.
The federal ombudsman for victims of crime, Steve Sullivan, wants an expansion of child advocacy centres - kid-friendly, one-stop shops for young victims of abuse.
Sullivan says coming forward with allegations can be a harrowing experience for youngsters.
They're often forced to repeat their stories to police, prosecutors, doctors and social workers in a variety of unfriendly settings.
He says child advocacy centres bring all service providers under one roof, which makes the process less stressful for children and leads to more charges and better conviction rates.
While there are already more than 900 such centres across the U.S., there are only a handful in Canada where getting funding from the private sector and all levels of government has been a problem.

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