Childhood Sexual Abuse

I met with my case manager yesterday and we were speaking about my history of childhood sexual abuse. It is a very damaging thing to live through and causes lifelong problems for its survivors. The majority of childhood sexual abuse victims know their abusers, it’s not some random stranger who abducts them off the street. Family members make up a large percentage of the perpetrators. This leaves the survivors with lifelong emotional scars.

Childhood sexual abuse almost always leaves its survivors with some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is caused when a life threatening or endangering event happens to a person. Because of the emotional and physical trauma childhood sexual abuse causes, PTSD easily develops. If the victim is not believed or keeps the abuse a secret, the PTSD is likely to be more severe. Many victims keep the abuse a secret because the abuser threatens to harm or kill them or their loved ones, or beloved pets, etc. If a victim gets adequate care and counseling quickly after the abuse occurs – the chances that they develop PTSD are greatly lessened. Survivors who develop PTSD need intensive counseling and care. They often have extreme reactions to little things which remind them of the abuse. For example, certain Christmas tree ornaments trigger a bad reaction for me. Childhood sexual abuse can effect a survivor decades after the abuse occurred if they did not get proper treatment or care in the aftermath.

Unfortunately, many perpetrators of childhood sexual abuse receive lenient punishment. Some are not even jailed! A large amount of them go on to attack other children, either after they are first prosecuted or many times before a victim speaks out. Personally, I believe that if someone victimizes a child it should be an automatic life in prison sentence!