5 victim during the childhood of the plaintiff and a substantial part of her adult life was not conducive to disclosure. All these factors call for a peculiar sensitivity when applying statutory time limits to proceedings arising from sexual abuse committed against a child during the period in question. As Thomas J put it in W v AttorneyGeneral, supra (at 720): ‘Approaching the question whether [the appellant] made the connection between her sexual abuse and adult behaviour, or ought to have discovered that connection, as if it were an exercise akin to that of discovering cracks in a house foundation, does not demonstrate any great understanding of the subject or sensitivity to the psychological and emotional problems suffered by a woman in Ms W’s position.’ In addition the plaintiff is entitled to the benefits of a constitutional dispensation that promotes rather than inhibits access to courts of law. The nature of child sexual abuse and its effects on the victim [8] The more common route in writing a judgment is to begin with the law and, having identified the legal hurdles, to assess the evidence, determining whether the facts proved enable the plaintiff to surmount those obstacles. In this instance, however, I intend to start by summarising the uncontested evidence about child abuse and its effects so that the reader comes to the law with an understanding of the problem. [9] Ms Fredman is a practising clinical psychologist who specializes in the area of sexual abuse. She spent about 20 hours consulting with the plaintiff prior to giving evidence at the trial and about the same length of time attending consultations