Announcement of increased funding for sexual violence support services in next week's Budget, and full ACC funding of counselling for victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault, are welcome progress in this highly sensitive and increasingly pressured area.
Last Monday, the Accident Compensation Corporation announced it would fully fund sexual abuse victims' counselling as part of an overhaul of its sensitive claims systems next year.
The changes would give claimants access to 48 therapy sessions over 12 months, more discretion to choose a counsellor, allow family members or support people to be included in treatment, and fund therapists to travel to isolated areas.
In a pre-Budget announcement on Wednesday, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the Government would allocate $10.4 million for sexual violence services during the next two years, saying that the sector required extra resourcing.
It clearly does. ACC is expecting an increase in sensitive claims of up to 10% each year until 2020 as a result of the reduced stigma around the reporting of sexual abuse.
Police have already put the recent increase in sexual crime statistics (which are bucking the overall falling crime rate) down to increased reporting, rather than increased abuse.
It is pleasing the topic is coming out of the shadows. Worldwide, the message now is (thankfully) that survivors will be listened to when they speak out, that sexual abuse and assault is unacceptable and perpetrators can no longer hide.
That reduces the stigma for victims and gives them confidence in speaking out.
But when they do, as well as justice, they often need considerable practical, financial and emotional support - in the form of counselling - to allow them to work through the abuse and hopefully enable them to live their lives as fully as possible.
Cuts to counselling have always been about ''cost'', but leaving survivors to deal with the repercussions of abuse by themselves is far more costly in the long term.
Those who have had little or no support, and who may have endured childhood and/or long-term abuse, are plagued by issues of shame, blame, anger, loss, betrayal, trust, self-confidence and self-loathing, which may affect their daily lives and relationships, and can lead to alcohol and/or substance abuse and mental illness.
All of that costs the health system, and comes at a huge personal cost to individuals, families and communities. Frontline support services and longer-term counselling is essential.
The increased Government funding is therefore welcome, but the fanfare is not.
It must be remembered the Government's drastic and wide-ranging ACC cuts to ''sensitive claims'' funding, including counselling services, in 2009, caused consternation among service providers and survivors and led to drastically reduced numbers of claims being accepted.
The corporation backed down a year later, after significant pressure, and reinstated 16 hours of counselling funding.
An independent panel reviewed ACC's sensitive claims clinical pathway in 2010 and made 14 recommendations, but a 2012 independent review by Dr Barbara Disley found there was still much progress to be made towards fully implementing all the recommendations.
The ACC, as a Crown entity, is charged with implementing the Accident Compensation Act 2001 and its role is ''to provide treatment, care and services for anyone who is injured in New Zealand'' with the view of enabling them to return to the workforce.
There is undoubtedly huge pressure on the agency. ACC figures show in the 2012-13 year, it accepted 1.7 million new claims and spent more than $2 billion on claims and another $2 billion on hospital treatment and surgery, care and support, and compensation for people unable to work.
While the Government's tough stance on crime has paid off in some areas, it is important to remember there are still victims of crime in many areas who may face mental as well as physical injuries as a result of the trauma they have endured.
Survivors should not have to fight for support in such a sensitive area as sexual abuse, in which the smallest hurdle might put them off seeking life-changing help.
