Scottish actor Matthew McVarish was sexually abused by his uncle as a child and, as a consequence, suffered years of psychological torment.

He is now in Malta as part of his quest to walk 16,000 kilometres and visit 32 capital cities across Europe to help stop the scourge of child sexual abuse.

Dressed in a blue kilt, Mr McVarish was greeted yesterday by British High Commissioner Rob Luke and spoke of his role as the European ambassador for the NGO Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse.

If you’ve been sexually abused, I hope you understand that what happened to you was not your fault

“We hear a lot about celebrity offenders. I think it’s important we hear about victims as well. In the United Kingdom, I’m sort of known in children’s television and I realised that if I speak up about child sexual abuse, I can encourage other victims to come forward. Being sexually abused in your childhood causes life-lasting psychological trauma.”

He pointed out that, in Europe, one in every four girls and one in every six boys were abused before the age of 18. Very often, he continued, the media portrayed the victims who speak out as people only trying to discredit someone or destroy their career or even as people looking for compensation or revenge.

“But, for me, it’s about child protection. Very often, the victim is the only person who has real information on what these people are capable of doing, so it’s important that they come forward for child protection reasons.”

He will be meeting the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Children to discuss what is known as the statute of limitations, a law restricting the time within which legal proceedings may be brought. Such legal time limit, during which victims can report abuse, differs almost from country to country across the EU.

“This law should be repealed because it puts children in danger by preventing the authorities from acting upon evidence of known offenders. It upholds the rights of the criminals over that of their victims.”

He urges Maltese child sexual abuse victims to reach out to NGOs and seek therapy to initiate the healing process. “If you’ve been sexually abused, I hope you understand that what happened to you was not your fault and it’s no reflection on who you are.”

He urged victims to contact the police and help stop the perpetrator from abusing more children.

Mr McVarish admitted it was difficult to break the silence on this issue, noting that many people would not want to bring shame upon their families.

“I’m sure you don’t feel strong enough to go through a court case and stand in a room with that person. But ask yourself: are you stronger than the child whom he could be abusing tonight because you couldn’t break your silence?

“I appreciate it’s difficult but the more victims come forward, the more society accepts that this is happening and that we need to address it.”