Seven-year-old Sarah suddenly seemed withdrawn and tired. She started to wake up with bad dreams and was wetting the bed for the first time in years. A letter from school expressed concern about her progress in class. Sarah's parents were worried.
When Sarah told them that she had been sexually abused by a trusted family member they were devastated.
Sarah spent the next few weeks making the rounds, from the hospital emergency room to the police station, from a child welfare program to a psychologist's office. She was forced to relive the abuse again and again, telling her story to one stranger after another.
The year was 1994.
Safe Horizon is the country's largest provider of supportive and healing services, from the youngest to the oldest victims of crime and violence. Through our experience we knew that what happened to Sarah was all too common -- and that society's response was not only lacking, in many cases it was re-traumatizing victims. So we took the lead in finding a better way.That same year, we published a report that would forever change the way we respond to child abuse in New York City and across the country. The Child Sexual Abuse Public Policy Project and Multidisciplinary Response Protocol found that, on average, each child victim had to tell his or her story to eight different people. As a result, children and families often experienced additional trauma, often feeling blamed for their own victimization.
Despite Progress in Helping Abused Children, More Needs to be Done
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