Australian children call Kids Helpline to report sexual abuse at home during Covid lockdown

Covid-19 lockdowns across Australia are fuelling sickening child sexual abuse in the family home. WARNING: Distressing content

Parents are sexually abusing their own children in lockdown, with calls for help soaring 50 per cent this year as Covid-19 restrictions help paedophiles cover up their crimes.

Reports to Kids Helpline over family sexual abuse have soared 70 per cent in Victoria, where 150 children called the hotline for help between January and June.

Shocking new statistics reveal that sexual abuse and incest between parents, children and siblings has risen an average of 50 per cent across the country.

Yourtown, which operates Kids Helpline, has referred many of the 662 children’s calls to police and child safety officials for investigation.

Describing the shocking rise in family sexual assaults as a “pandemic within a pandemic’’, Yourtown chief executive Tray Adams warned that Covid-19 lockdowns were helping perpetrators hide their vile abuse of children.

“Child sexual abuse can take place behind closed doors,’’ she said.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected daily life through restrictions on people’s movements and interactions, potentially limiting opportunities for child abuse to be detected and reported.’’

In NSW, 114 children called to report sexual abuse – 49 per cent more than in the first half of 2020.

Kids Helpline Chief Executive Tracy Adams warned that Covid-19 lockdowns were helping perpetrators hide their vile abuse of children. Picture: Supplied

Kids’ calls for help rose 30 per cent in Queensland, where 118 abused children reported sexual abuse to the government-funded helpline.

In South Australia, 42 children called for help – up 8 per cent compared to the first half of 2020.

The number of children reporting sexual abuse in Tasmania jumped from five to 19 – a 280 per cent increase. 

Four children reported sexual abuse in the Northern Territory – the same as last year – while the number in Western Australia rose from 31 to 47, up 52 per cent.

Australian Federal Police have warned that perverted parents are pimping their children to online paedophiles, who sell videos and photos of child abuse worldwide.

Yourtown, which operates Kids Helpline, has referred many of the 662 children’s calls to police and child safety officials for investigation. Picture: Supplied

And the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that family sexual assaults have soared 13 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic as victims are trapped at home with rapists.

Sexual abuse between family members rose at a rate six times faster in 2020 than in the two years prior to the pandemic.

Police across Australia recorded domestic violence sexual assaults against 10,162 Australians last year – 13 per cent more than in 2019 – with most of the victims teenage girls.

Yourtown has hired an extra 100 counsellors since the start of the pandemic and is supporting a new podcast, No Laughing Matter, to tackle the taboo topic of incest.

Comedians Adam Hills, Fiona O’Loughlin and Jean Kittson narrate the podcast, reading the real-life stories of adult survivors of incest.

“Incest is an awkward topic, virtually taboo, but a vital one,’’ No Laughing Matter spokeswoman Lianne Williams said.

“Family members who abuse, rely on secrets being kept.

“Family loyalty, love and the potential consequences of shame associated with breaking up the family, also play a significant part in children not speaking up about the abuse.’’

Ms Williams said children would be more receptive to a story told by someone they can relate to and feel comfortable with.

“Stories are not told in a comic or witty style, but in their own compassionate distinctive voice,’’ she said.

If you need help, call police triple-0 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800

Listen to the No Laughing Matter podcast here.