ABSTRACT
Denial by parents who are considered to be responsible for abuse of their children is a pervasive reality in working in the field. At the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, we studied 98 children referred to our treatment service following consensus amongst professionals (including civil courts) that they had been sexually abused (Hyde et al., 1995; Monck et al., 1996). Only 9 per cent of the adult abusers took full responsibility for their actions; a further 16 per cent took a degree of responsibility for what was alleged but minimized the severity; and 75 per cent took no responsibility, denying that abuse had occurred and blaming the child for creating a false reality or a professional for encouraging false allegations. Thirty seven per cent of the partners accommodated to the abuser’s denials and could not accept that abuse had occurred; 33 per cent could not decide whether to believe the child or the abuser; while 30 per cent were convinced that abuse had taken place and took a protective stance.
