As previously suggested, many people will be affected by the
sexual abuse of a young person. The decision to tell other people about the
abuse is one that must be given careful consideration. Before sharing this
information with people who are not directly affected by the abuse, many
issues regarding the general welfare of the family need to be addressed. As
every family is unique there will be no one right way to handle such
dilemmas.
With support, parents/caregivers and youth will be better
able to meet many of the following challenges:
-
Deciding who is safe to tell, and who it is not.
-
How to tell the people you trust.
-
How to decide whether or not to inform your own, or your
child's school, religious institution or social activity group leaders.
-
To what extent you should discuss this with your
child/parents/caregivers.
-
How much say should a young person have in making
decisions around the abuse (i.e. whether or not to have therapy, what type
of therapy, who is told, and who is not).
-
How to encourage your child to continue to trust you and
give you the information you need to help her while at the same time
respecting her privacy.
-
How to set your family's life back on track.
-
How to attend to each of your children as you have in the
past.
-
How to create safe places for your children to voice their
fears and concerns.
-
How to decide you can trust your CAS worker and/or
treatment provider.
-
How to determine how much or how little information to
share if you are not comfortable with your worker.
-
This is just a sample of the many difficult issues that
may face you. Dealing with these dilemmas will likely be very demanding.
The importance of not facing this alone cannot be stressed strongly
enough. Do everything in your power to secure a solid and dependable
support system.