Childhood Abuse No Excuse for Child Rape
Published in The Universe
(December 15, 2002)
Last week Marisa a
14-year-old child was determined to testify in court against her rapist, a
50-year-old man. There was no child friendly video conferencing equipment in
the court and she had to face the threatening stares and gestures of her
abuser. But she bravely continued and told her horrifying story. The
evidence was on the record. After this harrowing experience she was at
peace. Marisa had her day in court and could only hope that justice would be
done.
But what if her abuser argued
that he was a victim of sexual abuse as a child would that excuse him from
standing trial and entitle him to treatment and rehabilitation?
We know that sexually abused
children suffer brain and psychological damage. Their intellectual and emotional growth is retarded to
different degrees depending on the severity of the abuse. I wrote previously
in this column that the brain is a magnificent creation and can protect the
child from the very worst long-term effects of a traumatic experience and
help it recover when the conditions are suitable. That does not say the
child does not suffer and hurt, he or she does, very much so. And our
obligation first is to help the child.
There is much physical and
sexual abuse of children. One in three girls and one in seven boys are
abused according to some experts. One report says that in the United States
alone there are three million reports annually of child sexual abuse and one
million are verified. Since it is a crime surrounded by a cocoon of secrecy
and taboo only a fraction of the cases are ever reported.
How about the victim who
grows up and then abuses other children? Some argue that the abuser, having
suffered sexual abuse as a child is incapable of self-control and recovery
and therefore is not responsible for his or her actions.
The world is full of bravely
enduring or recovering victims of abuse. They have never abused anyone else.
So it is not easy to exonerate a child rapist by pointing to the fact that
he was abused himself as a child. Such abuse may be a mitigating
circumstance but does not waver all responsibility. Help is available for
the victim and there is such a thing as self-control and respect for others.
Many victims of abuse have recovered or are struggling on day by day without
help and have made a success of their lives. They faced the hardship of an
adult world that rejected or abused them.
Others
rightly feeling anger at being abused but can control and discipline
themselves and get help. Some unfortunately choose to allow their hurt and
anger to be vented and assuaged by abusing and hurting others. It will
surely be shown too that such people have freely chosen other things in
life. They can and have exercised freewill in other situations and are sane
and rational.
When tempted to satisfy sexual urges by using children as sex objects
they could have chosen otherwise. Their actions are not driven
uncontrollably and totally by a bad childhood experience.
This is the age of
disclosure. The silent suffering does not have to continue in this day and
age when telling is encouraged an help is available for those who want it.
They can choose to get help just as they can choose to abuse. I have every
sympathy for the victims and do all possible to help them and the one thing
that is unwise is to exonerate the child rapist with the plea of childhood
abuse. My work has led me and my co-workers to save many children from their
abusers and to provide protection and therapy and for all to recover. We
must bring the abusers to justice.
The case of Marisa could end in a long jail sentence for the abuser where he
can do no harm to other children. It is commonly estimated that a child sex
abuser can have abused as many as a hundred children before being caught.
The sex abuser has to be held responsible for abusive acts that violate
children.
