Sexual abuse and delinquency
Why do some adolescent girls who are the victim of sexual abuse become involved in criminal behaviour when others manage to lead a full life? Fabienne Glowacz, junior lecturer at the University of Liège, wanted to identify the factors that lead some on a particular path in life rather than another. Based on interviews with 23 girls who were the victims of sexual abuse, she was able to uncover several factors, including the importance of paternal support when the sexual abuse is revealed. An unknown parameter up until now. Speaking outVarious organisations (medical, feminist, associations, etc.) have worked towards the recognition of intrafamily abuse and child abuse. And then there was the Dutroux case. This led to several social advances: recognition of the problem, evolution in the legal and judicial procedures, improvement in the care offered to victims by the police, creation of clinical and psychological aid systems for the victims and the abusers, etc. And, above all, getting people to speak out. Even if there is still a long way to go. “Despite everything that has been set up in terms of awareness-raising and prevention, children and adolescents, imprisoned in their relationship with the abuser, are deprived of their ability to speak, they’re afraid to speak out”, Fabienne Glowacz acknowledges. “A girl recently came to see me who was abused by her stepfather, and she said that for a long time, she thought it was normal, her stepfather had been telling her this for years, that this was how you loved you stepdaughter... The power of sexual abuse is based on words that create confusion in children; the power of abuse lies in the trap in which the child is caught, and the secret they are required to keep so that they won’t talk about it”, the psychologist explains. Luckily, not all abused girls have psychological problems. Some of them (between 20 and 40 % of them according to the studies) succeed in leading a full life despite their ordeal. They are the ones known as “resilient”. But what is this resilience based on? |
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© 2007 ULi�ge
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