Negative experiences of reporting.

Most disclosures of child sexual abuse are “dead-end disclosures” (Malloy & Lyon, 2006) and, as such, not reported to authorities (Easton, 2013; Malloy & Lyon, 2006; Priebe & Svedin, 2008; Russell, 1983; Somer &

Szwarcberg, 2001; Ungar, Tutty, et al., 2009). Few survivors report professional intervention at the time they disclosed as children (Arata, 1998; Easton, 2013; Palmer et al., 1999; Sauzier, 1989). In contrast, some adults respond

inappropriately to disclosures by reporting to authorities when neither mandated nor helpful (Crisma et al., 2004).

Paradoxically, abused children rather than abusing adults are removed from their homes, families, and communities. That said, removing children from their homes often does not bring an end to sexual abuse. In addition to leaving children feeling punished, out of home placement exposes children to further risk for abuse in foster or adoptive families or institutions (Cox et al., 2000; Dominelli, 1986; Guberman & Wolfe, 1985; Martin & Palmer, 1997, as cited in Prilleltensky et al., 2001; Palmer et al., 1999; Prilleltensky et al., 2001).

When disclosures are reported, many professionals are less than helpful in their responses. Crisma et al. (2004) found that of 26 adolescents for whom abuse had stopped, none of the abuse had been stopped by a protective

agency. When professionals do intervene, they rarely offer victims old enough to participate in the intervention process a voice or a choice in that

intervention (Berliner & Conte, 1995; Dominelli, 1986, 2002; Sauzier, 1989; Ungar, Tutty, et al., 2009). Assuming a protectionist and controlling stance, “adults frequently inferiorize and depersonalize children by assuming they know best” (Green, 2006, p. 81).

These negative responses by professionals who minimize or disbelieve disclosures increase the level of anger experienced by victims, lead them to distrust professionals, and cause them to question or deny their own

experiences of abuse (Crisma et al., 2004; Denov, 2003; Palmer et al., 1999; Sauzier, 1989; Somer & Szwarcberg, 2001). Often these professionals are serving the needs of patriarchal, adult-centric legal and child protection systems. Although they espouse the importance of structural causes, most child protection system responses to child sexual abuse are depoliticized and levelled at individuals rather than aimed at societal or institutional structures and discourses (Dominelli, 2002; Green, 2006). Regrettably, many children and their non-abusing parents continue to be harmed more by unsupportive and blaming systems than by the abuse itself (Berliner & Conte, 1995; Plummer & Eastin, 2007; Sauzier, 1989).

3.3 Delayed Disclosing and Non-disclosure

Given the negative outcomes of disclosing and reporting intra-familial child sexual abuse, it is no surprise that 30 to 80% of sexually abused children do not disclose their abuse before adulthood, if at all (Alaggia, 2004, 2005; Easton, 2013; Hershkowitz, 2006; Hershkowitz et al., 2007; Hunter, 2011; Jonzon & Lindblad, 2004; London et al., 2005, 2008; Roesler & Wind, 1994; Sauzier, 1989; Schonbucher et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2000; Ullman, 2007). It is common for victims, particularly when abused by a family member, to delay three to 18 years before disclosing (Alaggia, 2004; Arata, 1998; Easton, 2013; Hershkowitz, 2006; Hershkowitz et al., 2007; London et al., 2008; Sauzier, 1989; Sjoberg & Lindblad, 2002a; Smith et al, 2000; Ullman, 2007). The closer the

relationship between the victim and the abuser, especially when the abuse is intra-familial (Goodman-Brown et al., 2003; Kogan, 2004; Schonbucher et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2000) or the abuser is a father-figure (Faller, 1989), the less likely the disclosure and the longer the delay. Victims who do not disclose may withhold deliberately or they may experience difficulty accessing memories of abuse (Alaggia, 2004).

It has been argued that without disclosing, there can be no intervention or treatment on an individual or societal level, the abuse continues, and

victims and survivors experience greater psychological and physical health consequences (Hershkowitz, 2006; Tang et al., 2008; Ullman, 2003). Delayed disclosing and non-disclosure have “implications for the maintenance of the abuse at both individual and societal levels and for the potential to provide support to victims” (Tang et al., 2008, p. 2). Disclosing and reporting transform the visibility of child sexual abuse from private and confidential to public. In doing so, disclosing and reporting force society to indicate our receptivity to accepting responsibility for the safety and well-being of children, either by reacting or choosing not to react (Green, 2006; Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 1999). 3.3.1 Barriers to disclosing.

When deciding whether to disclose and to whom, children assess the relative advantages and disadvantages thereof (McElvaney, 2006). As such, both their willingness to tell and the impact of disclosing are affected by their

perception of their caregivers as supportive or not (Lawson & Chaffin, 1992; Malloy & Lyon, 2006; Priebe & Svedin, 2008). Frequently, children do not disclose out of fear that adults will not hear or believe them, or will blame them for the abuse (Alaggia, 2005; Easton, Saltzman, & Willis, 2013; Foster & Hagedorn, 2014; Hunter, 2011; Jensen, Bulbrandsen, Mossige, Reichelt, & Tjersland, 2005; Lawson & Chaffin, 1992; Palmer et al., 1999; Schonbucher et al., 2012; Ungar, Barter, et al., 2009; Ungar, Tutty, et al., 2009). “Children are understandably reluctant to say what adults are reluctant to hear, be they parents, teachers or therapists. Indeed, purposeful disclosure of sexual abuse by children is deemed to be so difficult as to be a rare occurrence” (Sauzier, 1989, p. 455).

Guilt, shame, perceived responsibility, and self-blame further inhibit children from telling (Alaggia, 2005; Draucker & Martsolf, 2008; Easton et al., 2013; Foster & Hagedorn, 2014; Goodman-Brown et al., 2003; Hunter, 2011; McElvaney, Greene, & Hogan, 2014; Palmer et al., 1999; Roesler & Wind, 1994), as does acceptance of myths about child sexual abuse (Cormier & Goldsmith, 2010; Somer & Szwarcberg, 2001). Emotional bonds between victims and abusers impede disclosing, protect abusers long after the abuse has ended, and may lead to ambivalent feelings in victims (relief that abuse ended combined with feeling rejected) (Julich, 2005; Priebe & Svedin, 2008; Roesler & Wind, 1994; Sauzier, 1989; Sjoberg & Lindblad, 2002a).

Younger children, in particular, may lack understanding of what has happened or language to describe their experience (Alaggia, 2010; Easton et al., 2013; Foster & Hagedorn, 2014; Schaeffer et al., 2011; Sjoberg & Lindblad, 2002b; Ungar, Barter, et al., 2009; Ungar, Tutty, et al., 2009). They may lack knowledge of community resources, fear loss of control of the information shared, and expect ineffectual or over-zealous responses from available

resources (Allnock, 2010; Ungar, Barter, et al., 2009; Ungar, Tutty, et al., 2009). Children make decisions about disclosing sexual abuse based on the potential consequences to themselves, their abusers, and their families (Foster & Hagedorn, 2014; Kogan, 2005; McElvaney, Greene, & Hogan, 2014).

Schonbucher et al. (2012) found that children do not disclose, especially to their parents, because they worry about being a burden. Disclosing also is silenced by fear of recriminations, including fear for their own safety or the safety of others (primarily family members) (Alaggia & Turton, 2005; Draucker & Martsolf, 2008; Goodman-Brown et al., 2003; Hunter, 2011; Jensen et al., 2005; Malloy, Brubacher, & Lamb, 2011; Roesler & Wind, 1994; Sauzier, 1989; Ullman, 2003). This fear for self and others is more common in families experiencing other forms of violence and abuse (Alaggia & Turton, 2005; Alaggia, 2010). Children may choose not to disclose out of fear of parental or other adult reactions (Berliner & Conte, 1995; Goodman-Brown et al., 2003; Hershkowitz et al., 2007; Hunter, 2011; Lawson & Chaffin, 1992; Palmer et al.,

1999; Schonbucher et al., 2012; Somer & Szwarcberg, 2001; Ullman, 2003), including intrusive child protection interventions (Dominelli, 1986; Priebe & Svedin, 2008; Staller & Nelson-Gardell, 2005; Ungar, Barter, et al., 2009; Ungar, Tutty, et al, 2009) or forced participation in counselling (Foster & Hagedorn, 2014), over which they may have no influence or control.

Disclosing is silenced by religious and cultural norms around honour, modesty, obligatory violence, patriarchy, respect, sexual scripts, shame, taboos, virginity, and women’s status (Fontes & Plummer, 2010; Paine & Hansen, 2002). “Cultural norms affect the likelihood that child sexual abuse will be discovered by an adult or disclosed by a child. Cultural norms also affect whether abused children’s families will report child sexual abuse to authorities” (Fontes & Plummer, 2010, p. 491). Children’s ability to disclose is also impacted by discrimination, immigration status and deportation concerns, lack of culturally specific services, lack of knowledge of community supports, language barriers, and racism (Paine & Hansen, 2002).

Similarly, Aboriginal children are less likely to disclose due to a history of colonization and racism, issues of power within their communities, lack of culturally appropriate programs and services, loss of faith in the justice system, loyalty to community, reluctance to interfere in the lives of others (a cultural value), and a legacy of residential schools and unresolved guilt (Collin-Vezina et al., 2009).

The child victim is faced with deciding between disclosure, with the promise of frightening consequences, and maintaining the secret, which guarantees continued personal violation but may be accompanied by some degree of social approval as well. Exchange theory suggests that, from the child’s point of view, the price of keeping the secret and enduring further abuse is less costly than revealing the offense and feeling responsible for all the aftermath (Leonard, 1996, p. 111). Alaggia (2010) contends that “disclosing is multiply determined by a complex interplay of factors related to child characteristics, family

environment, community influences, and cultural and social attitudes” (p. 32) and provides a framework for understanding barriers to disclosure through an ecological lense. As such, Alaggia (2010) suggests that individual

characteristics and developmental factors impact whether children understand that is abuse and have the vocabulary to disclose that abuse, and that

temperment and personality impact children’s ability to tell. Family dynamics, such as rigid gender roles and dominant fathers, dysfunctional

communication, chaos and aggression, other forms of child abuse and family violence, and social isolation negatively impact disclosing (Alaggia, 2005, 2010; Alaggia & Kirshenbaum, 2005). Neighbourhood and community

characteristics, including lack of empathy, knowledge, and involvement, present barriers to disclosing (Alaggia, 2010). On a cultural and social level,

messages from media and social circles as well as controlling, sexist, and patriarchal attitudes, discourage disclosing (Alaggia, 2010). Easton et al. (2013) present a similar model, suggesting that barriers to disclosure operate on personal, interpersonal, and sociopolitical levels.