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Western Australia - Concept

Grooming (c. 1981 - )

From
c. 1981

Grooming is a term used to describe the types of behaviours that child sex abusers use to gain the trust or control of victims in order to abuse the child and get them to keep the abuse secret. In expert evidence to the Special Inquiry into abuse at St Andrew's Hostel in Katanning, Western Australia, it was stated that an abuser relies on three types of grooming: grooming the environment, grooming significant others, and self-grooming. For example, the abuser will infiltrate an organisation where children are accessible, set up a pattern of behaviour that will allow abuse to go undetected, and achieve outward results that increase the abuser's standing in the community. During this process, the abuser rationalises their own behaviour to persuade themselves that what they are doing is not wrong or harmful.

Details

In the Special Inquiry into abuse at St Andrew's Hostel, Katanning, evidence was given about the type of grooming behaviours used by the warden who was convicted of sexual abuse of children in his care. These grooming behaviours included establishing a regime of fear and favour among the children:

Special treats, or rewards, for students the warden decided to favour, such as:

  • staying up late
  • watching TV and movies in the warden's flat
  • being given alcohol, soft drink or lollies
  • going on special trips
  • being appointed to 'positions of authority over other students' such as being made a hostel prefect.

Real or implied threats from the warden of the consequences of falling out of favour or disclosing abuse or suspicions of misconduct, such as:

  • being put on unpopular duties (cleaning toilets, for example)
  • 'scraggings' (squeezing boys' genitals in order to cause pain)
  • being subject to a campaign of humiliation in front of other boarders
  • being threatened that parents would be told about a child's smoking
  • allegations of stealing, threats of suspension or expulsion and dire warnings that the student's bad reputation would spread to every other hostel in the State
  • constant reinforcement about the warden's influence with people in authority
  • warnings about prosecution for defamation.

Activities designed to sexually arouse boys, such as showing them pornographic movies.

The warden also groomed the community, so that he presented himself in a positive light:

He lifted the reputation of the Hostel by increasing enrolments, involving the students in community service, and organising fundraising activities for facilities at the Hostel which brought accolades upon himself. St Andrew's Hostel, report p.59

Publications

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: Public Sector Commission, Western Australia, 'Inquiry - St Andrew's Hostel - Public Hearing Transcript – 6 March 2012', Transcripts [St Andrew's Hostel Inquiry], Government of Western Australia, 19 September 2012, https://www.wa.gov.au/government/document-collections/st-andrews-hostel-inquiry; Public Sector Commission, St Andrew's Hostel Inquiry, Government of Western Australia, 19 September 2012, https://www.wa.gov.au/government/document-collections/st-andrews-hostel-inquiry. pp.45-50, 51, 59..

Prepared by: Debra Rosser