The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, regulations by which all federal workers are required to abide, clearly state that employees "shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse and corruption to appropriate authorities."

As soon as he returned to work, Eade was advised that a child, who had not attended the creche, had disclosed sexual abuse.

Research by London et al. (2005) has found that, contrary to the testimony of Dr Karen Zelas, sexually abused children typically disclose abuse when asked.

Research has shown that a child's natural interest in the dolls' sexual organs can sometimes mislead, though the dolls are also known to help children disclose abuse.

Children who ring ChildLine to disclose abuse are often encouraged to seek help from "trusted adults", the aim being to protect the child from harm causing as little ancillary damage as possible.

A child may 'disclose' abuse; a paediatrician may spot signs that indicate it; abnormal behaviour may alert a social worker, teacher, GP or health visitor to the possibility.

Federal employees daring to disclose fraud and abuse in their bureaucracies have been under virtual siege, isolated as pariahs and shipped off under gag orders to lesser jobs in far-off places.

Another study found that in most cases when children did disclose abuse, the person they talked to did not respond effectively, blamed or rejected the child, and took little or no action to stop the abuse.

The Washington Post, notably for the work of Katherine Boo that disclosed wretched neglect and abuse in the city's group homes for the mentally retarded, which forced officials to acknowledge the conditions and begin reforms.

The Pulitzer judges noted that her work "disclosed wretched neglect and abuse in the city's group homes for the mentally retarded, which forced officials to acknowledge the conditions and begin reforms."