Sexual abuse victims need proper counselling, rehab

Gibson Mhaka
A STUDY of sexual abuse victims or survivors, especially young girls, revealed that they suffer a significant degree of physical and emotional trauma, anxiety, stress or fear resulting in them turning to drugs as a way of relieving their emotional suffering. They also experience an array of overwhelming and intense feelings ranging from humiliation, degradation, guilt, shame and embarrassment, to self blame, anger and revenge.

This is so because being abused as a child means loss of many things such as childhood experiences, trust, innocence and normal relationship with family members especially if the abuser is a family member.

In cultures with strong customs and taboos regarding sex and sexuality, these effects can lead to stigma and discrimination. For example, a sexually abused girl may be viewed by society as being “damaged” leading her to suffer isolation and subsequently disowned by friends and family.

A prevailing myth about rape victims is that they are hysterical and tearful following abuse. Depression is one of the many emotional and psychological reactions that victims of rape and sexual abuse can experience. They usually appear distraught or anxious and many a time they express rage or hostility against people attempting to care for them.

Some rape survivors usually remain controlled, numb, in shock and live a life of denial or disbelief. Others also respond quite differently — being very expressive and verbalising feelings of sadness or anger. Meanwhile, stigma and discrimination by family members and the community remain a big challenge for rape victims.

According to a police officer who preferred anonymity and attached to the Victim Friendly Unit, a 12-year-old girl who was raped by her uncle attempted to commit suicide claiming she was being traumatised, scorned, stigmatised and discriminated at school by fellow pupils who did not miss an opportunity to remind her that she was no longer a virgin after being raped by her uncle.

“A 12-year-old victim whom we counselled claimed that she once contemplated committing suicide because her classmates were ridiculing and scorning her, saying she was raped by her uncle. During counselling she looked restless, becoming tense when certain questions were asked, crying or sobbing when describing specific acts during the assault and smiling in an anxious manner when certain issues were stated,” said the police officer.

From the above girl’s experience there is no doubt that victims of sexual abuse if they do not receive proper therapy or counselling they would live a life of self denial sometimes leading them to venture into prostitution or adultery if married as a compensatory behaviour.

The experience of being raped can also lead to suicidal behaviour and studies have revealed that about six percent of raped school girls reported to have attempted suicide as they feel embarrassed to talk about what had happened to them.

Sexual abuse is undoubtedly a leading factor predicting several health risk behaviours, including suicidal thoughts and attempts. Sexual coercion among adolescents is also associated with low self-esteem and depression factors that are associated with many of the risk behaviours for HIV infection.

It goes without saying that forced sex in childhood for instance, increases the likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex, having multiple partners, participating in sex work, and substance or drug abuse.

Most victims need to be reassured enough that what happened to them is “not their fault”. This helps them fight through shame and feel safe, secure and grieve in a healthy way. In most cases, a length of time and often therapy are necessary to allow the victim and people close to the victim to process and heal.

A leading researcher on the psychological causes and effects of shame, June Tangney, said lack of motivation to seek care and empathy can be destructive.

He said a common psychological defence is the development of fears and phobias specific to the circumstances of the rape. Phobic reactions to a wide variety of circumstances, he added, may develop as victims of sexual abuse sometimes fear being alone after the rape. They may develop specific fears related to characteristics of the assailant. Some victims may feel a global fear of everyone.

Speaking in Binga recently, Britain’s second secretary for political projects in Zimbabwe, Michelle Atkinson, challenged the government to put stern measures to ensure vulnerable groups are not abused and that they also get assistance if they happen to be abused.

“Women and girls suffer disproportionately from violence and insecurity. A recent survey showed that 32,5 percent of girls report experiencing sexual violence before the age of 18. The system set up to protect vulnerable and abused children in Zimbabwe is extremely depleted and levels of service access are very low. Less than three percent of girls who had experienced sexual violence subsequently received professional help,” she said.

She further said her government, through the Department of International Development, was making strides in addressing sexual violence against women and girls.

“We are addressing sexual violence against women and girls through many programmes that contribute to the improvement of lives of the poor people. I also want to commend Zimbabwe government for ratifying a number of international conventions whose objectives are to promote equality and development for women and has made amendments to family, labour and inheritance laws to reflect gender equality priorities,” said Atkinson.

However, the trauma suffered by rape victims calls for stiffer sentences against the perpetrators especially those who are HIV positive. There have been suggestions in the past that rapists should be castrated but some have dismissed this as too extreme but what has to be appreciated is that raping a child or an adult is as good as sentencing one to death.

It is a fact that rape victims are traumatised for life so it is only fair that those that cause others to be traumatised for life should also be made to suffer for life.

Gender activist and former regional manager of Musasa Project Lindiwe Ndebele said society should have a holistic approach and supportive mechanisms when dealing with victims of sexual abuse.

“Child abuse, especially child sexual abuse, is not just a criminal justice issue but a mental health issue also and society should have a holistic approach in rehabilitating the victims.

“Counselling should not only be extended to the victims but to the community, this is so because people are always quick to blame the victim. There is also need for multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach by society to improve the quality services available to abused children,” she said.

There is also need by the government, the church, traditional leaders such as village heads and chiefs, the political leadership and other opinion leaders in communities to put heads together and do some soul searching for solutions to this problem of child sexual abuse that is threatening the lives of our future leaders.

Society should not allow the lives of children to be ruined by rapists and other sexual abusers and what compounds the problem now is that even those close relatives including fathers are abusing their children.