The most fearful time of the year for abused kids

Call to support ISPCC's vital Childline service over festive season

- BY DEIRDRE MCNAMARA, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, ISPCC-CHILDLINE

CHRISTMAS is often painted as a season of joy, family and warmth - yet behind closed doors throughout Ireland, many children be living a Christmas nightmare.

There will be no presents, no laughter and no joy. Christmas will be a day the same as any other. A day that will bring violence, abuse and terror. For them, Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year - it is the most dangerous.

Last winter alone more than 5,000 children turned to Childline for help. The statistics should shake us to our very core. Over 100 children a year confide about incest. Hundreds more report violence at home, rape, or being forced to watch or perform sexual acts. Behind every number is a child or young person whose innocence has been stolen.

The stories are devastating. Annie, just 11 years old, is drugged by her mother and has been frequently raped in hotel rooms.

Jenny, a teenager, is exploited by her mother to pay off drug debts.

Sophie, only 13, has been groomed online, blackmailed into creating explicit content, and threatened with the murder of her parents if she did not comply.

(The names have been changed to protect the victims.)