Childline has revealed some of the horrific treatment its young callers have endured, with an average of two children a day using the service to report being sexually abused.
Childline, the national listening service for children and young people run by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), launched its Christmas appeal yesterday, sharing harrowing statistics and stories on sexual abuse, rape, trafficking and violence.
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Its team spends over 3,500 hours a year – 146 days – talking to young people in crisis. Around 14 children a week call about sexual abuse, while more than 2,300 a year make contact about sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Some 35 callers were trying to take their own lives when they called.
Childline told of how one 11-year-old girl said her mother forced her into prostitution and gave her anti-anxiety drugs before bringing her to hotels to be raped by men.
An increasing number of callers have told of being forced to watch pornography, it said.
Four in ten children who turn to Childline about sexual abuse say they’ve been groomed by predators.
Children told of being forced to watch and make pornography, and 300 children a year contacted the service about sexual abuse involving rape, incest and being forced to watch and/or perform sex acts.
