Child Sexual Abuse: Past and Current Myths

Violence and assault within the home have always occurred in the shadows. Throwing light on the problems has never been easy, with the players in the tragedies disappearing and the action ceasing as soon as they were illuminated. For health and welfare workers now faced with large numbers of child sexual abuse victims the fact that the problem of child sexual abuse remained hidden for so long is difficult to comprehend. The evidence does not indicate a large increase in child sexual abuse, so the uncomfortable reality must be that the victims suffered in silence or their cries for help remained unheard or unheeded. As Hewitt so graphically proposes, the problem has always been:

“… characterised by silence and shame on the part of the victim, and disbelief and ignorance on the part of the community.”