SEXUAL ISSUES IN CLINICAL PRACTICE FORUM ARCHIVE
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Re: Reporting sex offenses as an adult survivor
Olivia, grad student in counseling · 4/5/00 at 12:56 am ET
I certainly do not mean this in a disrespectful manner, but those who commit child abuse are more likely to have been abused themselves as children. Yes I agree, it is wrong to continue a cycle of such distructive behaviors, but if the abuser is a child as well, how can we take the stance of: they have no rights, when we are in the profession of helping people. I don't think we should allow that excuse to keep abusers from being prosecuted but I do think that we should take into effect that not all abusers are violent and not all abusers are 40 year old men preying on little children.
With incest, it is not always the fathers who abuse their daughters, but brothers can have incestuous relations with sister of about 5 years difference in age. How do you suggest we deal with them? Say a young man has been abused by someone, and that boy at age 8 starts molesting a younger sister of 3 or 4. I don't believe that child has the intend of harming that sister, I believe that child has been introduced to a sexual desire that an 8 yr old does not necessarily know how to deal with.
Like I said before, I don't think we should let these abusers get away with this sort of behavior, however I think that we as professionals should be careful how we pass judgement on others and start taking a more empathic approach to therapy.
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