Silence is brought about in so many types of ACEs. I don't want to diminish the silence surrounding child sexual (or even rape as an adult). But when you are a kid and if you know your brother may be beaten or you may separated from your siblings by CPS if when the school teacher asks you ... How did that Left eye get Black and the next week they ask you how did that right eye get black... what I said is "I fell" I'm a klutz. I didn't want to get separated from my brothers and sisters so that I wouldn't have my family or worse yet, be able to protect them by taking the beating or the sexual abuse or whatever. Silence is easily obtained in children who have no way of knowing that those they may find themselves with if they would break the silence would be any better than those they were with and also you could loose your school --- I was gonna be and was valedictorian of my class... Silence was my motto... How are you going to convince a kid to talk. In my case there wasn't even coercion by family to keep silent. I knew it was a necessity. And when others found out and I could be silent no more. The state came in, they separated me from my brother and sister and It was the most "hellish" experience of my life. I would keep silent again if placed in the same situation.... How can you overcome that?