Research in the field of sexual abuse of has exposed one consistent trend - the abuse is broadly unrevealed and underreported.
There are several reasons that cause the victims of such insupportable misdeeds to not tell anyone about their sufferings. Feelings of disgrace, guilt, isolation, powerlessness and embarrassment make them bottle up and not seek help. Why do children fall short of informing their elders about their maltreatment? The explanation may include the following:
The children think that will not be believed. Being abused by a known and trusted person destabilizes the child’s sense of safety.
They feel that nobody cares about what happened to them. This is most often the case with children who are forced spend a lot of time away from their parents due to lack of time of the parents busy in their career fields.
The children may even blame themselves and accept responsibility for the abuse, believing that there is something wrong with them, or that the exploitation is their fault.
Their fear of bringing legal punishments to the perpetrator, like imprisonment, their dread of consequent castigatory measures from the person behind the crime.
Sometimes, they feel uneasy about having to answer uncomfortable questions, especially in public.
Often, their embarrassment makes them loath responding to queries about sexual aspects of the abuse.
The result of such secrecy on the pasts of the victims and their lack of disclosure is that, the perpetrators of such heinous crimes go unharmed in society. They continue victimizing other unsuspecting innocent children, taking advantage of their trust and fear of vocalizing their protests. Moreover, in the event of revelation being a persistent quandary for young victims, then fear, distress, and emotional anguish will linger with the injured person.
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