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In the Shadows [msmagazine.com]

 

We have yet to create safe space for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to heal. Of the 50 million adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in America, only 15 percent of them were identified as victims in childhood. That means that 85 percent of them came into adulthood without ever addressing issues related to their abuse.

Isolation comes easy for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Sometimes they isolate themselves because they feel so misunderstood. It is easier to lean into silence than to find their voice. It is easier to distance themselves than to fight to be heard. Sometimes society does the isolating for them. People reward silence with invitations and recognition. So, survivors isolate, sometimes physically, often emotionally.

Even in the face of the #MeToo movement, there is little activism to create safe space for survivors of incest. Speaking about harassment outside of the home may be tolerable. However, speaking about what went on within the home is still too taboo. Adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse are expected to move on, as if survival should be enough. Addressing the trauma as public conversation is not a welcome topic.

[For more on this story by Rosenna Bakari, go to http://msmagazine.com/blog/2018/03/21/in-the-shadows/]

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