Karen A. Duncan, M.A., LMFT, LSW
Childhood Sexual Abuse: Out of the Shadows
In the 21st century we are no longer a society that denies that sexual abuse occurs to children. Instead of a culture encased in secrecy, we have seen an explosion of information about this trauma. As we came to acknowledge this insidious family and societal problem it became clear that childhood is not always the "innocent times" it was once thought to be. As one of the more pervasive traumatic crimes occurring against children it frequently committed by a family member or another person trusted by the family. It is a trauma that has the potential to mark a child's life with emotional and physical pain that spans her development.>/p>
A report by the U.S. Department of Justice (1999) indicates sexual abuse occurs to 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 8 boys. National surveys estimate 12.6 million girls under the age of 19 are victims of sexual abuse, assault and rape. In the United States alone 25.4 million women between the ages of 20 to 59 are reported to have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse when they were young. Even more staggering is the fact that childhood sexual abuse is linked to a pattern of revictimization for girls as they grow into women. Even after the sexual abuse ends in their childhood women continue to be at-risk for future sexual assaults and acts of physical violence that are once again frequently committed by a partner, family member or known acquaintance. The tragic fact is that for many women the betrayal never ends.
Childhood sexual abuse is epidemic in our society and throughout the world. If you think this crime only happens to "the other person or in someone else's family" consider that research studies reveal that sexual abuse occurs across socioeconomic groups, educational levels, cultures and ethnicity-it has most likely happened to you, someone you know or someone in your neighborhood. Perpetrators do not discriminate when it comes to the crime of sexual abuse. As I often remind people-wherever there is a perpetrator no child is safe.
For the past 30 years a concerted effort has increased public awareness and provided information about the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. Schools offer programs with the goal of educating children to increase the likelihood of this crime being reported. Public service announcements are heard, movies are made, commissions are funded, and for one month out of the year we recognize the victims of this crime. But these efforts do not prevent sexual abuse from affecting the lives of children where it has already happened or will happen. The personal impact of childhood sexual abuse does not simply end because at some point in time the perpetrator stopped abusing the child. The disruption that occurs from this trauma continues to ripple throughout the life of each girl and the woman she becomes. But there is hope. While women are never responsible for the abuse that was committed against them, they can welcome and embrace the responsibility to heal their lives. As we focus on the present and look to the future the message for women is that healing from this trauma is possible.
Because of the vibrancy of the women's movement and the courage of such notable female advocates as Oprah Winfrey, U.S. Senator Paula Hawkins, Maya Angelou, Marie Osmond and former Miss America Marilyn Van Derbur, the past crime of childhood sexual abuse can no longer be denied either. Women created a forum to have their stories heard-the balance of power shifted and choosing whose stories will be told and whose will be believed is now decided by women themselves and those who support their telling of the truth. No longer willing to be passive participants from the culture of our childhood, women have decided to end the silence of suffering and embrace a new tradition of disclosure and accountability.
Through acts of self-empowerment women now speak the truth concerning this most devastating of traumas and from their voices the awareness about childhood sexual abuse has risen. This traumatic crime has come out of the shadows and into the light where it can be exposed. It is an epidemic that has finally been given a name and a social-family disease whose cause was identified! To borrow a phrase "we have come a long way" but we still have a ways to go. Awareness and education are not enough to stop this crime from happening. But they are the foundations for the next step-supportive treatment for this trauma that occurs within the lives of women and within this nation's healthcare to bring about recovery and healing. When women heal they become their own personal prevention program ensuring that sexual abuse not happen again to them and its impact to their lives ends as well. They also prevent the lives of their children being mired by this trauma as well.
Healing from childhood sexual abuse is possible today. When effective treatment is provided women no longer have to endure the problems they experience without being understood. With recovery the lives of women are restored, renewed and revitalized. Awareness, education and intervention without treatment is like being invited to the celebration party, but no one gives you the address--you cannot attend because you don't know where to go.
Today we encourage women to check for all kinds of life-threatening diseases-breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. We have media campaigns to fight cancers, quit smoking, and monitor cholesterol. Advertisements on television and radio and in female magazines are targeted to women for cosmetic surgeries, botox treatments, the newest fashions, personal trainers or the latest diet book or fad. We even have to endure ads for Viagra when most women cannot even get their birth control or mammograms covered by insurance. We give our money and our time to shelters against domestic violence so that women and children can seek safe haven. We run marathons, walk for cures and have telethons for all kinds of causes.
There is so much that women do for each other that I have to believe we can find a way to support and openly encourage women to screen for the effects of childhood sexual abuse, seek recovery programs and treatment in order to heal. In doing so, we will truly have brought sexual abuse out of the shadows and into the mainstream of women's healthcare. What better gift can be given to women and girls? Can we even fathom the ways in which the lives of women everywhere would be profoundly changed? How enriching it could be for women to no longer carry the stigma of this trauma? When women are supported to have their problems understood, encouraged to believe in themselves, develop a sense of their true selves, seek fulfillment through choices rather than repeating destructive patterns is when and how their lives begin to improve. Healing brings freedom--the freedom to live a life free of the devastating trauma of childhood sexual abuse. I have always believed that women are more than survivors living in the shadow of a trauma perpetrated by another, a shadow that has kept them encapsulated in victimhood and survivorship. When women heal they become strong, competent, vibrant, individuals, no longer victims or survivors. but women who have healed!
Awareness, education and intervention have been the first steps in the prevention of this trauma to children but they are not the completed steps for women. No more secrets about sexual abuse has to go hand-in-hand with no more stigma about the life-changing impact of this trauma. When healing and recovery are added to the foundation already in place then the journey for women is well traveled with a certain destination to restored happiness and well-being. Mainstreaming treatment programs that facilitate recovery from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse into women's healthcare is the next step for women whose only desire is to live truly free of childhood sexual abuse! Spread the word healing is possible...
Yours in healing,
Karen A. Duncan