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Implementation
of child abuse. 694 ’ 695 Assistance can be sought from medical and standard basic facilities 696 and Victim
Support. 697 Specific facilities also exist for victims of sexual violence and abuse who are minors. 698 In
addition to this, assistance can also be received for example at one of the referral-based top specialist
trauma centres for children and young people 699 . The ways in which provision of assistance is organised
in the Netherlands, the various types of co-operation and examples from other countries that can provide
a guide for the establishment of integrated provision of assistance will be discussed below.
The Health Council of the Netherlands included the topic of child abuse in its programme for 2011, 700
in which it indicated that in some cases children are severely traumatised as a result of abuse, including
sexual abuse. The Council emphasised the fact that this places high demands on the care on offer and
the provision of assistance, but that politicians and victims and their families have referred to a lack of
effective treatment and supervision. In a report on child abuse that was subsequently published 701 , the
Council referred to the fact that substantial investments have been made in the prevention, identification
and reporting of child abuse over the past years, which have resulted in an increased awareness of
the severity and complexity of this major social problem. With regard to dealing with the consequences
of child abuse, the Council established, however, that few proven effective methods of treatment exist
throughout the world, and that in the Netherlands, the provision of assistance is also fragmented.
In the report, the Council presented a model for a multi-disciplinary approach to both the diagnosis
(assessment) as well as the treatment of victims of child abuse, 702 which involved a large number of assessments,
associated with the various aspects and domains which, in the opinion of the Council, also
need to be involved in both the assessment and the treatment.
Integrated approach towards tackling child abuse
In its 2011 report on child abuse, the Council states that an integrated approach towards child abuse and
co-operation between various institutions within this framework are essential. A number of examples
of multi-disciplinary co-operation and integrated programmes from other countries are described in
the box below.
694 The Youth Care Act describes the sexual abuse of children as a form of child abuse, see §1.3. The protocol
of the Youth Care Agencies and the <strong>Child</strong> Abuse Counselling and Reporting Centre of Amsterdam
and North-Holland cites child pornography as a form of child abuse.
695 Various organisations exist that focus upon child abuse, such as the <strong>Child</strong> Abuse Counselling and Reporting
Centres and the confidential doctors for child abuse.
696 Such as the family doctor, Municipal Health Service, Netherlands Institute for Psychological Care and
Addiction Care and the Reflection and Action Groups to Tackle <strong>Child</strong> Abuse.
697 Victim Support provides judicial, practical and emotional support to victims of abuse, road accidents
and disasters, and also plays an important role in making referrals to emergency organisations; www.
slachtofferhulp.nl (viewed 22 August 2011).
698 An example of this are the ‘Elker’ groups in Groningen that help children in the 4-12 and 12-24 age
groups, and their parents to come to terms with the sexual abuse.
699 Designated as such by the <strong>National</strong> Centre for Chronic Traumatisation in Early <strong>Child</strong>hood [Landelijk
Centrum voor Vroegkinderlijke Chronische Traumatisering, LVCT].
700 The Health Council of the Netherlands, 2010, p.19.
701 The Health Council of the Netherlands, 2011.
702 The Health Council of the Netherlands, 2011, pp.48-49.
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