If you were raped:

Protect Yourself Against Rape:

Watch your drink:

Watch out for each other:

If you start to feel sick or strange, tell a friend immediately! Date rape drugs can take effect in as little as 15 minutes. Trust your instincts! If you feel something is wrong, it probably is. Don't be afraid to make a scene and stand up for yourself. This could be the difference between life and death.

If you have any questions about sexual assault or need to talk about what has happened to you or a friend, call our 24-hour crisis line at (812) 336-0846.

Child Sexual Abuse ~ Disclosures

Among victims of sexual abuse, the inability to trust is pronounced, which also contributes to secrecy and non-disclosure.

Children often fail to report because of the fear that disclosure will bring consequences even worse than being victimized again. The victim may fear consequences from the family, feel guilty for consequences to the perpetrator, and may fear subsequent retaliatory actions from the perpetrator.

Victims may be embarrassed or reluctant to answer questions about the sexual activity.

Victims may also have a feeling that "something is wrong with me," and that the abuse is their fault.

In addition to "sexual guilt," there are several other types of guilt associated with the abuse, which include feeling different from peers, harboring vengeful and angry feelings toward both parents, feeling responsible for the abuse, feeling guilty about reporting the abuse, and bringing disloyalty and disruption to the family . Any of these feelings of guilt could outweigh the decision of the victim to report, the result of which is the secret may remain intact and undisclosed.

A child's initial denial of sexual abuse should not be the sole basis of reassurance that abuse did not occur. Virtually all investigative protocols are designed to respond to only those children who have disclosed. Policies and procedures that are geared only to those children who have disclosed fail to recognize the needs of the majority of victims.

Study of 630 cases of alleged sexual abuse of children from 1985 through 1989: Using a subset of 116 confirmed cases, findings indicated that 79 percent of the children of the study initially denied abuse or were tentative in disclosing. Of those who did disclose, approximately three-quarters disclosed accidentally. Additionally, of those who did disclose, 22 percent eventually recanted their statements.

Young victims may not recognize their victimization as sexual abuse.

There is the clinical assumption that children who feel compelled to keep sexual abuse a secret suffer greater psychic distress than victims who disclose the secret and receive assistance and support.

Early identification of sexual abuse victims appears to be crucial to the reduction of suffering of abused youth and to the establishment of support systems for assistance in pursuing appropriate psychological development and healthier adult functioning . As long as disclosure continues to be a problem for young victims, then fear, suffering, and psychological distress will, like the secret, remain with the victim.

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