Surge in ‘calls for help’ amid Savile scandal

By NATALIE WALKER
Published on 14/10/2012 00:00

A COUNSELLING service that helps survivors of childhood abuse has revealed a rise in calls in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Trauma Counselling Line Scotland said the multiple allegations of sexual abuse of children by Savile are bringing back memories to women who suffered the same treatment when they were younger.

The service has handled around 15 per cent more callers than normal in the past few days as the scandal has engulfed the BBC, charities, the NHS and government departments linked to the BBC presenter and charity fundraiser, who died aged 84 last October.

“The current news coverage of the Jimmy Savile abuse ­allegations will, for many victims, bring back the dreadful memories of long-buried experiences,” said team leader Eileen Hone. “We believe the increased number in calls is a direct result of the news coverage with some callers telling their experience for the first time. Hearing the experiences of others would appear to be the catalyst to seek help.”

The service is run by Scots charity Health in Mind and offers support and guidance to survivors of sexual, emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual abuse or neglect.

One service user, abused as a child, said she only got in touch with the service last week after reading about Savile. She said: “Since the ­story broke, I’ve hardly been able to sleep. I saw the Counselling Line number in my doctor’s surgery and carried it with me for five days before calling. The Savile coverage brought back all the pain I had managed to hide so well and I knew I needed help.”

In the past year, the helpline dealt with an average of eight people a day, which has risen to about ten in recent days

Hone added: “For many the [Counselling Line] service provided the safe place for the first time of telling. In trying to tell their story it is important for them to work with someone who acknowledges the impact of childhood abuse. They no longer need to be alone. We offer a service to help users rebuild trust and regain a sense of self.”

Seven out of ten of women who use the helpline reported improvement in their mental health within three months of getting in touch.

Since ITV screened a documentary earlier this month in which five women alleged they were abused, new claims about Savile’s predatory behaviour have emerged on a daily basis.

Scotland Yard is pursuing 340 separate lines of inquiry in the Savile abuse case involving 40 potential victims, including one from Tayside. So far 12 allegations of sexual offences have been officially recorded but the number is increasing, Scotland Yard said. Metropolitan Police detectives are in contact with 14 other forces probing the allegations.

On Friday, BBC director-general George Entwistle offered a “profound and heartfelt apology” to the alleged victims and announced two inquiries would be launched.

One inquiry will focus on whether there were any failings over the handling of an abandoned Newsnight investigation into the late radio disc jockey and TV personality following his death last year.

A second independent inquiry will look into the “culture and practices of the BBC” during the four decades that Savile worked there amid numerous claims that his abusive behaviour was widely known.

Yesterday it emerged that the publicly funded BBC could face claims for compensation of up to £10 million as some of the alleged abuses were carried out on its premises. The Department of Health in England announced an investigation following reports that it could also be sued over claims that Savile abused patients while a volunteer at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital in the 1970s and 1980s. One report said Savile also abused a 17-year-old patient on a visit to the psychiatric hospital in Berkshire.

Savile’s tombstone was removed from a cemetery in Scarborough last week at the request of his family and broken up before being taken to landfill. In Scotland, there are doubts that his former cottage in Glencoe will now be turned into a rehabilitation centre as planned.