#METOO was originally created in 1997, after the founder of the movement sat across from a 13-year-old victim who shared her story of being sexually abused. Tarana Burke created a nonprofit organization, Just Be Inc., which sought resources for victims of sexual harassment and assault when the social media platform was My Space. Ten years later, she created the well-known hash-tag, which initially was for black and brown girls. Today, those black and brown girls are still ignored. Burke’s focus was on the young girls of color who are marginalized and became a footnote because they don’t have a title or initials before or after their names. In the Washington Post, Burke states, “I often say that sexual violence knows no race, class or gender, but the response to it does. ‘Me too’ is a response to the spectrum of gendered-based sexual violence that comes directly from survivors – all survivors.”
Today #Metoo is a movement that has focused on corporate America, Hollywood, political figures, Catholic Priests, and other people in high places more privileged or those considered the elites of this country. No one considers the black and brown girl in most communities suffering from the abuse she faces on a daily basis.
In a national survey, “over 60% of [girls] are exposed to interpersonal violence at least once in a twelve-month period of time” (Finkelhm et al. 2009). Around the globe, teenage girls are exploited through sex trafficking, emotional abuse, physical abuse, abuse suffered because of immigration status, and other unfathomable phenomena. Looking at the numbers, it’s staggering to see that 150 million girls under the age of 18 have experienced various forms of sexual violence, over twice the number of boys, 73 million, in the same age bracket (World Health organization, 2014). Sadly, the country with the greatest number of girls being abused is Africa with nearly 34.4% of their total population . . . the United States ranked 6th with 25.3% (Singh, 2014).
The trauma experienced by teenage girls places them at risk for depression, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, and PTSD (Brezo et al. 2008). According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 7.9% of males and 19.7% of females globally face sexual abuse before their 18th birthday. Another review of studies found that in 21 high and middle-income nations, 7 to 36% of females reported being victims of sexual abuse during childhood. Here in America, roughly 3 million cases of child abuse and neglect involving almost 5.5 million children are reported each year (healthychildren.org). Where does it end?
There is a lack of information in the research. Women of color usually keep quiet or refuse to report instances of sexual harassment or abuse. Our daughters, for whatever reason, are typically not believed when they report to us that they have been victims of inappropriate touching or unpredictable behavior from male counterparts.
According to the World Health Organization, “child sexual abuse is the involvement of a child in a sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend and is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared, or else that violates the law or social taboos of society.” Activities include, but are not limited to, intercourse, attempted intercourse, oral-genital contact, fondling of genitals directly or through clothing, exposing children to adult sexual activity or pornography, and the use of a child for prostitution or pornography.
According to helpguide.org, child abuse and neglect doesn’t just mean black eyes. While physical abuse is shocking due to the marks it leaves, not all child abuse is obvious. Ignoring children’s needs, putting them in unsupervised, dangerous situations, exposing them to sexual situations, or making them feel worthless or stupid are also forms of child abuse or neglect.
Child abuse has a lengthy history. Children have been subjected to abuse by their parents or other adults since the beginning of time. For centuries laws have failed to protect children from abuse. Under English common law, until the 1800s. Just as women were considered property of their husbands, children were considered property of their fathers. In 1870, the first child abuse case to capture national attention was that of an eight-year-old foster girl, Mary Ellen Wilson, whose mother was sentenced to one year in jail for whipping the little girl on a daily basis (family.findlaw.com). More significantly Wilson’s case generated outrage and, by 1874, citizens formed the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
In 1962, child abuse grabbed the country’s attention once more with an article which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association which described symptoms of child abuse and deems child abuse to be medically diagnosable. Within ten years every state had statues known as mandatory reporting.
PTSD is a disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms may include may include the following: nightmares or unwanted memories of the trauma, avoidance of situations that bring back memories of the trauma, heightened reactions, anxiety, or depressed moods.
Some researchers have suggested that the higher incidence of interpersonal trauma among females when compared to males is the reason they are more likely to develop PTSD (Wolfe and Kimerling 1997; Yehuda 2002). Children who are victims of abuse and/or neglect are at increased risk of developing PTSD (Masho and Ahmed 2007). Prevalence rates indicate that approximately 10% of children are victims of child maltreatment and approximately 6% of children report sexual victimization (Finkelhor et al. 2009).
When compared to children in the general population, children living in foster homes experience three times the amount of physical abuse and have twice the likelihood of being victims of sexual abuse when compared to children in the general population. When looking at children who reside in group homes, the risk for physical abuse is ten times more likely, and the risk for sexual abuse 28 times more likely, than rates in the general population (Spencer and Knuden 1992).
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention shared that 1 in 4 children suffer abuse. An estimated 676,000 children were confirmed by child protective services as being victims of abuse and neglect (2016). In 2016, about 1,750 children died from abuse and neglect across the country. Psychological challenges, as noted by the center, are that the stress of chronic abuse may result in anxiety and may make victims more vulnerable to problems such as PTSD, conduct disorder, and learning, attention, and memory difficulties.
The behavioral challenges behind abuse are increased risk for smoking, alcoholism, and adult drug abuse as well as high-risk sexual behavior. Abused and neglected children are about 25% more likely to experience problems such as delinquency, teen pregnancy, and low academic achievement. Another study found that physically abused children were at greater risk of being arrested as juveniles, being teen parents, and not graduating high school.
It is believed that children who suffer complex trauma are negatively impacted across seven domains of development, including attachment, biological, affective regulation, dissociation, behavioral regulation, cognition, and self-concept (Cook et al. 2005). One goal of treatment for children who have been maltreated is to interrupt the relationship between the traumatic experiences and the development of emotional and behavior problems. Coping strategies are considered key in circumventing this process (Tishelman and Geffner 2011).
Sexually abused children are often tormented by shame and guilt. They may feel that they are responsible for the abuse or that they have brought it upon themselves. The shame of sexual abuse makes it hard for children to come forward. They worry that they won’t be believed or that they will anger family members who may not believe them (helpguild.org).
Annually, 63,000 sexual abuse cases are either substantiated or found to have strong evidence of occurrence, according to Rain.org. Child Protective Services state that 80% of perpetrators were most often parents. In addition, 6% were other relatives, 5% were siblings or strangers, and 4% were unmarried partners of a parent. Amazing as it seems, CPS notes that out of all sexual cases reported, 47,000 men and 5,000 women were the alleged perpetrators. CPS substantiates or finds supporting evidence that in sexual abuse claims, 88% of all perpetrators are male, 9% are female, and 3% are unknown.
Treatments consist of medications and therapy, different types of trauma-focused psychotherapy as well as medications to manage various symptoms. According to psychologytoday.com, a therapeutic process that helps victims to process their pain is to revisit their earliest painful memory at its starting point. Attempting to figure out what happened? Write down everything that you can remember, think about what you thought was going to happen, and then think about if you wanted it to happen. I would love to see the results of this study, but it is still being developed.
The authors of “Avoidant and Approach Coping as Moderators Between Trauma Exposure and Trauma Symptoms” discuss how progress has been made in helping victims battle trauma. It was proposed that adolescent females who use higher levels of avoidant coping to manage a traumatic experience would also demonstrate higher levels of symptomatology. In contrast, adolescent females who engage in higher levels of approach coping to manage a traumatic experience demonstrate lower levels of symptomatology (Elzy et al. 2013).
Bronfenbrenner’s theory, also called development in context or human ecology theory, identifies five environmental systems in which an individual interacts. The theory offers framework through which community psychologists can examine individual relationships within communities and the wider society. In the home, a child is nurtured and develops an ability to recognize her connections in a safe environment. If, for whatever reason, that environment isn’t safe, it will affect each layer of the Ecological system described as the child matures. One traumatic experience can alter every level of a child’s interaction over the course of her life.
The method that will be used seeks to look at the larger model of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, which explains the inherent qualities of a child and [her] environment and how they interact to influence how she will grow and develop. This study is important because it examines a child in the context of multiple environments, also known as ecological systems. A child finds herself enmeshed in different ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological system moving outward to larger school systems, to the most expansive system, which is society and culture. Every one of these systems ultimately are part of a child’s growing stages. Ironically the family and community surrounding that child is the most significant system during the developmental stages of the child’s life. This method also suggests that the mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the different microsystems in which the developing child finds herself. This is the link that connects a young girl to home and school, between peer groups and family, or between church and family.
Qualitative Interviews were part of the method I chose. They allowed me to utilize a semi-structured interview method with each participant. This process permitted me to reflect on the questions as I observed each individual. According to McDougal III, “qualitative interviews are more like conversations than structured interviews and should be understood as appropriate or less appropriate according to the nature of the research question.” After careful consideration, I chose my participants and assured them that what we talked about would be held in strict confidentiality.
Individual interviews are another method that will be part of my qualitative inquiry. They will include two pre-teen student participants, a fellow student in my class, and an older participant who has overcome stages of trauma she suffered as a child. With careful consideration and permission, I asked my pre-teen participants a few questions about the tactics of the perpetrator. I then asked the older participant what her techniques were for overcoming her trauma and what has given her drive to mentor others who have struggled and/or survived child abuse. My fellow classmate and I contemplated the similarities in our stories, finding some comfort in the literature.
Questions I asked the two pre-teens:
- Did the abuser make you feel safe?
- Did you receive special treatment from the abuser?
- Did the abuser ever threaten you?
- Did you feel safe talking about the abuse?
- If you told anyone, what were their reactions?
Questions I asked the older participant:
- When you told others about the abuse, what were the reactions you received?
- Did you believe you were to blame?
- Did the abuse affect other areas in your life? e.g., schooling, relationships, and trust.
- How has processing the pain been an added edge for you?
- If you could be the lifeline for one young girl, what would you say to her?
I realize these questions are essentially a way of exploring the abuse that has overwhelmed children as a whole over the years. I have gained some understanding and analyzed data that can be further researched to develop a technique to assist other girls in gaining coping skills and strategies to work through forms of trauma that continue to haunt them.
In attempting to find a balance between privileged corporate America and less fortunate black and brown girls, I am seeking and developing research to show there is hope for every abused girl in every culture, no matter what her title or background. This research has a significant gap in it; however, I am enthusiastic that I will be able to locate more information and techniques that will enable me to assist and encourage every sufferer of child and sexual abuse. I am seeking the bridge that connects the hierarchy to the neighborhood teenager in all communities, I am seeking answers to questions that might otherwise go unanswered. My readers will learn there is understanding to be gained as I continue to research this delicate subject. I am not only seeking more answers for my readers, but for myself as well. I can’t help but ask, who is included under the #METOO?
