Forget Me Knot Day
HELP ADULT SURVIVORS UNTANGLE THE KNOT OF CHILD ABUSE
Buy a knot and donate this Forget-me-knot Day
11th November 2010: Friday 12th November 2010 is Forget-me-knot Day, when Australians are encouraged to show their support for more than two million adult survivors of childhood abuse.
Forget-me-knot Day is an initiative of ASCA (Adults Surviving Child Abuse), the key organisation advancing the needs of Australian adults who have experienced child abuse, and a further eight million directly affected by it. The knot in ‘Forget-me-knot’ Day is symbolic of the ‘tangle’ of childhood abuse, which for this largely ignored group is often a lifelong challenge to unravel.
ASCA is calling on all Australians to donate and help adult survivors to reconnect with their families, friends and the community, by buying a tangled knot available at www.asca.org.au/forgetmeknot
This year’s event will feature a range of activities around the country including:
An official Forget-Me-Knot ceremony at Hyde Park Barracks, November 12th 11AM, including speeches from Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, Minister for Sport, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness, Senator for New South Wales The Hon. Mark Arbib, ASCA CEO Dr Cathy Kezelman, international child abuse spokesman Rev. Tom Doyle and leading eating disorders author and spokesperson Melinda Hutchings.
Activities alongside SCAA (Survivors of Clergy Abuse Australia) at the Clergy Abuse Summit for survivors on 12th November and Sexual Assault Summit on November 13th/14th.
A call to all Australian politicians in State and Federal Parliament to support the day by wearing a tangled knot.
A call out alongside SCAA and the Alliance of Forgotten Australians to churches nationwide to hold a minutes silence on Forget-Me-Knot weekend recognising the suffering of survivors.
ASCA Chairperson, Dr Cathy Kezelman said, “As a society we can forget that abused children grow up. While some survivors show remarkable resilience most survivors carry the scars of childhood abuse into their adult life. The tragedy of abuse also has a significant impact on their families, their partners and their community all of whom require awareness, understanding and support.
“Many people find the trauma of childhood abuse difficult to comprehend; so it is often ignored. This silence and shame can mean that untangling the knot of childhood abuse is a solitary, confusing and complex task.
“Forget-me-knot Day aims to encourage a national conversation supporting survivors to overcome their trauma and sense of shame about their abuse, by creating a more accepting and open environment around the topic,” said Cathy.
ASCA works to empower survivors, while also establishing a healthy support network and build lasting connections to society.
With the right help and support, survivors can find their way through the tangle of child abuse and find a sense of health and wellbeing. Listening, understanding and supporting are critical to the healing process. For fifteen years, ASCA has provided support for those who have suffered abuse in the past and are struggling with its effects in the present. ASCA is a core part of the solution, delivering evidence-based workshops to adult survivors of child abuse, and training workshops for health practitioners to inform treatment of survivors of child abuse around Australia.
More than eight million Australian community members are directly affected by child abuse. In a population of 22 million, this is a staggering figure. In Australia, one in three girls and one in six boys is sexually abused before the age of eighteen.
76% of women and 72% of men with severe mental illness have been abused. 80-85% of women in Australian prisons are victims of incest or other types of abuse.
Comments
JohnBS1 posts
So now that the world knows and understands that religion has been a fraud incapable of acting as it preaches and very capable of committing atrocities and abuses on the most vulnerable and our children and then protecting itself and its wealth are we expected to honor and respect them and their followers simply because of their belief in a fraud. What a horrible shame these religions have brought to society. These religions have spent years telling us about justice and rights and lo and behold they are shown to be the greatest abusers of these things. They should have the decency to remove themselves from any area of life dealing with social services and children until they show they have worth and value to bring to society.
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