Abusing Children, Damaging Adults

By: Sarah Odegaard

One of our experts, Marianne Benkert, MD, shares her insights into the psychological and emotional damage inflicted on survivors of childhood sexual abuse in today’s Healing and Spirituality blog. Dr. Benkert describes the lasting impact on the child that erodes at their sense of self-confidence and ability to function in daily life as an adult: “It is important to understand that for most victims the psychological trauma is not truly appreciated until adulthood.” The importance of Dr. Benkert’s work with child sex abuse victims is in not only recognizing the profound negative effects of the abuse that stick with a child as they become an adult, but in serving as a voice to advocate for survivors in affirming their experiences and common suffering. A survivor should not feel alone if they fail to realize the true consequences of the abuse until much later in life, as this is phenomenon is a scientifically demonstrated reality of the damage child abuse inflicts. Dr. Benkert’s message is also echoed in a new book by Susan Clancy, The Trauma Myth, reviewed last week in the New York Times. Clancy’s book reports on data she collected from interviews with adult victims of childhood sexual abuse, and she concludes that only as a child matures into an adult, and can understand the nature of the abuse, does the horror and trauma from the abuse begin to take effect. The message in Dr. Benkert’s interview and Susan Clancy’s book rings true to us as lawyers working on behalf of survivors – we see it daily in our work: child abuse is incredibly harmful not only immediately, damaging to a child emotionally and physically, but also long-term, inflicting damage that can cause alcoholism, depression, suicidal thoughts, drug addiction, an inability to form and hold meaningful personal relationships. We praise our survivors who have the courage to seek help in overcoming the lasting obstacles from the sex abuse they suffered as a child.