research study on ritual abuse-torture, child abuse statistics

Uncle Clover

2009-09-27 03:12:20 UTC

Bon jour, my name's Bill but you can call me "Clover" if you like. :-)
I am just now joining this group, so if I violate any of the local
etiquette I beg your pardon and assure you any offense generated is
not intentional.

That said...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:34:34 -0700 (PDT), childadvocate

Post by childadvocate
http://www.ritualabusetorture.org
http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Ritual_Abuse_Torture
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-08-25/news/mn-24801_1
http://www.vday.org/take-action/violence-against-women/incest

<snip>

Post by childadvocate
...Twenty-seven percent
of the women who participated in the telephone survey and 16% of the
men said they had been molested as children--suggesting that the
problem is more widespread than earlier, smaller studies have
suggested.

I come from one of those little towns where abuse of the weaker
individuals (women, children, elderly, disabled, etc....) was
commonplace. Not just physical, but emotional and psychological as
well. Especially if you were in any way "different".

The only thing I can figure from reading the above statistic is either
1: not everyone who participated told the truth, or 2: child abusers
are much more heavily concentrated in some areas than others. I say
this because if my own town were the sample, the figure would be more
like 85-90% of all children having suffered some form of abuse or
another during their lives, primarily sexual in nature with
psychological torture being very close behind.

I wonder if any studies have anything to say about the geographic
distribution of child abuse cases - especially repeated abuse over
many years. It's entirely possible the study is an accurate reflection
on the overall incidents of child abuse but that child abuse tends to
occur among many individuals in a relatively confined region. That
would make some sense, since much abuse is generational - veritable
"traditions" in many communities such as my own childhood home.

Post by childadvocate
...Abusers include friends and acquaintances (42%),
strangers (27%) and relatives (23%). About half the abusers could be
classified as "someone in authority."

This figure is a bit skewed, also, relative to smaller towns, since in
REALLY small towns (like mine), most people are related to one another
to a greater or lesser degree. Unless by relatives they mean only
those living in the home with the child(ren) being abused as the abuse
is perpetrated.

Post by childadvocate
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-08-25/news/mn-24801_1
Fewer than half the victims told someone--usually a parent, other
relative or friend--about being molested within a year. Only 3%
reported the incident to the police or other public agency.

Now THIS figure, I can agree with sans question.

Post by childadvocate
One in three of the victims said they had never told anyone about the
molestation until this survey, most often because they were afraid or
ashamed, but in 10% of the cases because they did not consider the
abuse serious.

I very much know the type. In my experience, most of those who treat
such abuse as "not serious" or "no big deal" are folks who have gone
on to perpetuate the chain of abuse by becoming abusers, themselves.
People either seem to continue the chain or else completely break it.
Those who continue the chain are, in my view, simply trying to
rationalize away their own abusive behavior as excusable so they don't
have to deal with trying to figure out what's wrong with them inside
and can ignore and neglect their children on a whim just by
threatening to smack them around if they don't sit down & shut up.

(Not entirely a direct experience, but something I've seen plenty
often enough to be upset by it).

Post by childadvocate
Seven of 10 who did tell said no effective action was
taken.

Three of 10 _DID_ elicit an effective response? Wow. In my town, I
know of no one who ever managed to truly "do" anything about the
abuse. The child molester across the street from us got away with it
because the parents of one of his victims took the abuse - once their
child revealed it to them - to that rock of all rocks, that bastion of
all bastions - their local church. Rather than going to the police or
filing charges, they took it to the church board. That man had several
children on the board, and even though he actually tried to admit it
during the course of their meeting, his children claimed the victim
was lying and that the molester was simply too senile to know what he
was saying. He wasn't senile at the time, there's no doubt about it -
he was an inbred baby-raping hick of the type you only HOPE not to
hear about in the evening news.

Effective action, I'm afraid, is still hard to come by for many small
communities. In larger cities, there is more help more easily
available. I think about those who are the children of today in that
town, now, and wonder how many of their parents - my generation and
those immediately before & after us - have gone on to continue the
abuse and how many, if any, have managed to break the chain.

:-/

Thanks for posting these. Some folks don't like stirring up such
ghosts, but for me, it helps remind me of what I hope never to become
if ever I decide to go ahead and have children some day. I need to
constantly remind myself that I didn't do it, that I didn't ask for it
or invite it or anything - that I was not to blame and that the only
person I can be responsible for is myself. I don't know where the
strength came from for me to be like this, but I feel for those (the
vast majority, it seems) who don't have such strength. :-( I hope some
of my thoughts re: the psychological aspect of it all were enough to
make this an on-topic response. Apologies to those for whom this
appears not to be the case.

Merci. :-)

http://www.USENETHOST.com 100% Uncensored , 100% Anonymous, 5$/month Only!