SPECIAL EPISODE - Following SAMSN’s 2025 Roundtable: Intersections of Child Sexual Abuse, Suicidality & ViolenceSPECIAL EPISODE - Following SAMSN’s 2025 Roundtable: Intersections of Child Sexual Abuse, Suicidality & Violence
samsn's STRONGER
This “special edition” episode of STRONGER features some of the people integral to SAMSN’s impactful work. Our host, SAMSN’s CEO Craig Hughes Cashmore, will chat with Professor Patrick O’Leary and Doctor Gary Foster, both of whom are part of SAMSN’s Practice Advisory Committee. Following SAMSN’s September 2025 high-impact roundtable in Canberra, our two expert advisors have some powerful insights to share with you.The Roundtable – Intersections of Child Sexual Abuse, Suicidality & Violence – was held at the Red Shed in Canberra on the 17th of September 2025 as part of a joint project between Survivors & Mates Support Network (SAMSN), Griffith University’s Disrupting Violence Beacon (DVB) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW). It aimed to shine a light on the ongoing national tragedy of child sexual abuse (CSA), suicidality and violence. Participants included survivors and advocates, academics, researchers, policy makers, and frontline workers in service delivery. It is hoped this Roundtable, and further conversations will help shape priorities and collaborations around the critical work needed to save lives touched by CSA. You can read the full report on our website. Professor Patrick O’Leary is the co-Director of the Disrupting Violence Beacon and Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women at Griffith University. He’s an internationally-recognised researcher, with significant expertise in domestic violence, gender-based violence and child protection. Prior to entering academic work, Patrick was a social worker in sexual assault, counselling, and domestic violence services. For over 25 years he’s conducted research on the effects of child sexual abuse on men. Dr Gary Foster is a social worker who used to be a Police Officer in London’s Metropolitan Police, where he co-coordinated a Domestic Violence unit and investigated and prosecuted sexual assaults. After his move to Australia, Gary established and managed Queensland’s “Living Well” service, which provided counselling and group support to men who’d experienced childhood sexual abuse or adult sexual assault, as well as to partners, families, and communities. Gary’s PhD examines governmental responses to male-on-male rape. Gary joined SAMSN’s Practice Advisory Committee to help build a support network giving voice and agency to male survivors and their supporters. We hope you enjoy this special episode, subscribe to the series, and join us in 2026 for Season 2: STRONGER STORIES.
1:03:19•15 May 2026
Child Sexual Abuse, Suicide and Silence: Why Visibility Saves Lives
Episode Overview
- Silence around child sexual abuse and suicide can be deadly, and open conversation is crucial for prevention.
- Adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse are heavily over-represented in suicide statistics yet largely invisible in national strategies and services.
- Shame, stigma and rigid ideas of masculinity create major barriers to disclosure and support for men.
- Specialist, visible services and peer-led spaces give survivors connection, language and hope, even if they never formally reach out.
- Implementing existing Royal Commission recommendations and addressing stigma and shame across the lifespan are seen as essential next steps.
“"Silence around abuse and suicide itself... people die if there's silence."”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of survival, courage and some very blunt truth-telling about child sexual abuse and suicidality. This special edition of *samsn's STRONGER* brings together SAMSN CEO Craig Hughes Cashmore with Professor Patrick O’Leary and Dr Gary Foster, both long-time experts in trauma, violence and men’s health.
Fresh from SAMSN’s 2025 roundtable in Canberra on the intersections of child sexual abuse, suicidality and violence, they unpack why so many survivors feel unseen, unsupported and left out of national strategies. You’ll hear hard statistics alongside lived experience: the recent child maltreatment study, massive over-representation of abuse survivors in suicide figures, and what Gary calls the "disturbing" absence of survivors in key national plans on health, addiction and homelessness.
Patrick puts it bluntly, noting that child abuse is the largest contributor to years of life lost from suicide for men, and that "we can’t shy away from this". The conversation also tackles self-medication, risky behaviour, isolation, and the damaging myths that men who were abused will become perpetrators. They talk about how shame, stigma and silence keep men from disclosing, especially in a culture that tells them they must be tough, stoic and in control.
Yet there’s a strong thread of hope: peer support groups where men finally feel, in Gary’s words, "I’m not the only freak in the room", and services that combine lived experience with professional support. This episode speaks directly to male survivors, their partners, friends and anyone working in mental health or addiction who wants to understand why trauma must be part of any serious suicide prevention plan.
It doesn’t sugar-coat the horror, but it keeps coming back to connection, community and the quiet strength it takes just to stay alive. If you’ve ever wondered whether talking about abuse and suicidality truly matters, this conversation might nudge you to ask: who in your life needs to be seen and heard today?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.