Survive response to Royal College of Psychiatrists statement regarding prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse and inadequate support for adult survivors within NHS systems

Today, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) has publicly highlighted what Survive has always known:

• Child Sexual Abuse is prevalent across England and Wales
• being a victim of Child Sexual Abuse increases the likelihood of being in contact with mental health services in adulthood
• NHS systems are currently unable to provide the holistic care that adult survivors need to heal, rebuild and thrive.

Says CEO of Survive, and core member of Act On IICSA (ick-sa), Mags Godderidge: “We welcome this statement from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the acknowledgement that NHS systems currently do not adequately support adult survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. The overlap between Child Sexual Abuse and poor mental health in adulthood was also highlighted by the Truth Project which ran in parallel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). At Survive, we see this overlap every day: two-thirds of our service-users experience anxiety; over half depression and/or suicidal thoughts and behaviours; over a third misuse substances because of what happened; and around a fifth self-harm”.