The Oscar-nominated film Spotlight follows an investigative team from the Boston Globe as they expose the almost 90 Catholic priests in the area who abused children—and the wall of lies and trickery that the Church used to cover it up. The movie powerfully highlights that institutions we expect to protect us can actually cause us harm. This happens when institutions, like the Church or the military or universities, do not acknowledge the widespread abuse going on within their confines, do not respond appropriately when survivors came forward, and do little to prevent such violations against body and soul.
As a trauma psychologist, I think of my patients, and their struggles—not simply the sexual abuse (though that too), but also the invalidation, the disbelief, the doubting themselves, and forever feeling broken. So I can't turn a blind eye to sexual assault in boys and men and neither should you.
At least one in six boys in this country is sexually abused by the time of his 18th birthday. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse are at risk for a wide range of medical, psychological, and sexual disorders, from PTSD and substance abuse to depression and suicidal behavior. The numbers uncovered by the Boston Globe Spotlight team may seem shocking—and they are. But abuse against boys is not as unusual as you'd think. (While church investigations have uncovered abuses against girls, the overwhelming majority are against boys.)
[For more of this story, written by Joan Cook, go to http://www.psmag.com/health-an...ivors-deserve-better]
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