The Silencing of Children in Australia

In this chapter we examine societal responses to child abuse and neglect. In spite of advances in our understanding of the problem, these responses at many levels demonstrate an unwillingness to confront the scale of the problem and a pattern of behavior that rests on what we describe as the "silencing of children" (Mudaly & Goddard, 2006). This continues in spite of our knowledge of the costs of child abuse. In 2007 figures, Access Economics (Taylor et al., 2008) reported that, by the most conservative estimate, child abuse and neglect cost the Australian community AU $10.7 billion per annum, but that the costs could be as high as AU $30.1 billion. 1 The population of Australia in 2007 was less than 22 million. In this chapter we predominantly use Australian examples to support our contention; however, the issues are mirrored globally. Our intent is to provoke reflection, and to prompt those working in different cultural contexts. to make similar analyses.