April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Several blogger (Google tells me 359) have posted about it, including these:
The Diva of Defense, Michelle Annese
The Health Gazette
The Military News
I Speak of Dreams
Becky
Due
Sister
Circle
Empowerment
through community
Sirlanclot
The Library Detective
I have read what others have written; now it is my turn for a few words.
About thirty years ago, when I supervised social services in a county south of Louisville, the
knowledge base on sexual abuse was very limited. Generally, professionals were still talking one female out of ten thousand and one male out of one hundred thousand being a victim of sexual abuse before the age of eighteen. Then the Palo Alto study came out and reduced that dramatically. Today, we realize that the true victims of are more like one in four females and one in ten males.During the first year supervising social services that county I came to believe that there was an epidemic of sexual abuse. I no longer have the statistics, but it seemed that 25% of the abuse cases we investigated were either sexual abuse, incest, or sexual exploitation of children. A few years later I learned that the county had the second highest per capita rate of sexual about in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That was saying quite a bit, since that county was not only had the fastest growing population in Kentucky, but in those days was the fastest growing in the United States.
When it comes to sexual abuse, I know what I am talking about. And in future blogs this month I shall write more, including case histories that then astounded and saddened me. For the moment, I suggest you click on some of the links above and see what other blogger have written.
It's been my lifes work for the last few years, and for the next few.
ReplyDeleteWow, Nick, you really have been in the trenches!
ReplyDeleteI'm acquainted with a few people who were sexually abused in childhood. Most don't talk about it. But one friend did - she was the office manager at a law firm where I worked 10 years ago; she said both she and her younger sister were abused by their father. She said with therapy and time, she felt better about herself, but it was still at least a weekly - sometimes daily - battle to remind herself it wasn't her fault. She was an awesome person to work with, I know that.
Thanks for the post on this Nick. I, too, have a little too much personal insight on this topic, which is another topic for another day!
ReplyDeleteMichelle—I thought of you as I wrote this post yesterday. I’ll mention you in today’s post!
ReplyDeleteLittle Sister—I suppose I was in trenches. And I left the trenches after 12 years in a state of shell shock!
I believe that it does take a lot of time and, yes, therapy, for a survivor of incest to recover. I have personal experience of that: my ex-wife was a survivor of incest. Somewhere in the posts I make this month I will at least mention her story.
Punkmom—You are welcome. Personal insight into the subject of sexual abuse ain’t always good. My blessings to you.
Bruisedegosmashedsunnysideup— Thanks for visiting Nick’s Bytes and especially for your comment.
I agree with you 100%. And I shall address that time when reports weren’t taken seriously in a future blog post.