The personal is political for child sexual abuse too
Published Dec. 30, 2012, in News & Record, Greensboro, NC
Several high-profile instances of child sexual abuse have surfaced in the last few months, including scandals involving the Boy Scouts of America, BBC television host Jimmy Savile, and longtime “Sesame Street” puppeteer Kevin Clash. And the nation is still reeling over the Penn State sexual molestation scandal revealed last year. Opinion pages and online commentary have been filled with words of disgust, shock and horror.
Indeed, child sexual abuse is a repulsive, reprehensible act, and it is important to publicly address these serious crimes. Yet it’s troublesome that it takes such public instances of abuse to grab our attention, especially considering the frequency of child sexual abuse inside the home.
According to the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released in 2010, an estimated 135,300 children were sexually abused during the study year (2005-2006). The 2008 National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that nearly 10 percent of all children surveyed had been sexually victimized as some point in their lifetime. And this abuse most often occurs inside the home. The National Incidence Study reports that about 60 percent of sexually abused children were victimized by biological parents, adoptive parents, step-parents, and parents’ partners.
Declaring that “the personal is political,” second-wave feminists made the point in the 1960s and 1970s that so-called “personal” problems like domestic violence, spousal rape, abortion, and inequitable division of housework and childcare must be brought into the public sphere. Such issues are deeply rooted in the social power structure and tied to the workings of social institutions. They have consequences for our communities and nation as a whole. The same goes for child abuse of all kinds and especially child sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse is not merely an individual, personal reality for its victims, but it should be of great public concern. The repercussions of this abuse reverberate throughout the lives of the victims, their loved ones, and the entire community. Victims often experience poor physical health, poor emotional and mental health, social difficulties, and cognitive dysfunctions, as well as exhibit high-risk health behaviors and other behavioral problems. Adults who experienced child sexual abuse also have increased risks of imprisonment, homelessness, and unemployment or underemployment. There also is a large financial price to pay. According to a report by the Prevent Child Abuse America organization, it costs an estimated $89 in police services and $9,206 in mental health treatment for each case of child sexual abuse.
Social norms direct us to stay out of others’ personal business, but child sexual abuse must be redefined as public business, no matter where it happens or who the offender is. Children often cannot defend themselves in these situations, and much abuse likely goes unreported, especially when others are unwilling to intervene out of fear that they are intruding into another’s private affairs. We must not turn our heads when we suspect abuse, thinking that what happens to our neighbors, our nieces and nephews, or our children’s friends is “none of our business.” We need to talk about it, educate ourselves about its patterns, and enact policies and prevention strategies that can help effectively reduce its occurrence.
Many of our current policies are inadequate or inadequately enforced. Efforts tend to focus on pedophiles and non-familial offenders, and long prison sentences and registration requirements are meant to reduce the supposedly high likelihood of re-offending. In addition, most are based on misconceptions about abusers, which is preventing progress. According to a 2009 article by David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center and a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, most offenders target older (not pre-pubescent) children whom they previously know, approach them in private settings, and have among the lowest recidivism rates of all offenders. Further, Finkelhor’s research shows that as many as one-third of all adult offenses against juveniles involve so-called “compliant victims” or “statutory sex offenses,” a fact that also deviates from the offender stereotype and requires different kinds of prevention strategies.
Child sexual abuse represents a deeply personal assault, but we must begin to think about the overall problem as a public issue. Only then can we begin to take more effective steps toward decreasing its incidence and better protecting our children.
Several high-profile instances of child sexual abuse have surfaced in the last few months, including scandals involving the Boy Scouts of America, BBC television host Jimmy Savile, and longtime “Sesame Street” puppeteer Kevin Clash. And the nation is still reeling over the Penn State sexual molestation scandal revealed last year. Opinion pages and online commentary have been filled with words of disgust, shock and horror.
Indeed, child sexual abuse is a repulsive, reprehensible act, and it is important to publicly address these serious crimes. Yet it’s troublesome that it takes such public instances of abuse to grab our attention, especially considering the frequency of child sexual abuse inside the home.
According to the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released in 2010, an estimated 135,300 children were sexually abused during the study year (2005-2006). The 2008 National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that nearly 10 percent of all children surveyed had been sexually victimized as some point in their lifetime. And this abuse most often occurs inside the home. The National Incidence Study reports that about 60 percent of sexually abused children were victimized by biological parents, adoptive parents, step-parents, and parents’ partners.
Declaring that “the personal is political,” second-wave feminists made the point in the 1960s and 1970s that so-called “personal” problems like domestic violence, spousal rape, abortion, and inequitable division of housework and childcare must be brought into the public sphere. Such issues are deeply rooted in the social power structure and tied to the workings of social institutions. They have consequences for our communities and nation as a whole. The same goes for child abuse of all kinds and especially child sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse is not merely an individual, personal reality for its victims, but it should be of great public concern. The repercussions of this abuse reverberate throughout the lives of the victims, their loved ones, and the entire community. Victims often experience poor physical health, poor emotional and mental health, social difficulties, and cognitive dysfunctions, as well as exhibit high-risk health behaviors and other behavioral problems. Adults who experienced child sexual abuse also have increased risks of imprisonment, homelessness, and unemployment or underemployment. There also is a large financial price to pay. According to a report by the Prevent Child Abuse America organization, it costs an estimated $89 in police services and $9,206 in mental health treatment for each case of child sexual abuse.
Social norms direct us to stay out of others’ personal business, but child sexual abuse must be redefined as public business, no matter where it happens or who the offender is. Children often cannot defend themselves in these situations, and much abuse likely goes unreported, especially when others are unwilling to intervene out of fear that they are intruding into another’s private affairs. We must not turn our heads when we suspect abuse, thinking that what happens to our neighbors, our nieces and nephews, or our children’s friends is “none of our business.” We need to talk about it, educate ourselves about its patterns, and enact policies and prevention strategies that can help effectively reduce its occurrence.
Many of our current policies are inadequate or inadequately enforced. Efforts tend to focus on pedophiles and non-familial offenders, and long prison sentences and registration requirements are meant to reduce the supposedly high likelihood of re-offending. In addition, most are based on misconceptions about abusers, which is preventing progress. According to a 2009 article by David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center and a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, most offenders target older (not pre-pubescent) children whom they previously know, approach them in private settings, and have among the lowest recidivism rates of all offenders. Further, Finkelhor’s research shows that as many as one-third of all adult offenses against juveniles involve so-called “compliant victims” or “statutory sex offenses,” a fact that also deviates from the offender stereotype and requires different kinds of prevention strategies.
Child sexual abuse represents a deeply personal assault, but we must begin to think about the overall problem as a public issue. Only then can we begin to take more effective steps toward decreasing its incidence and better protecting our children.
