Abuse

Abuse is a sensitive subject, but in a recent article in the Times, they featured one of the least talked about areas of abuse: the abuse of children by women.

They called the article, and the accompanying radio programme on BBC Radio 4, 'Breaking the Silence'.

The reason I listened to the programme is that one of the interviewees is a friend of mine. I learned more about her in that short interview than I ever knew before. I knew she had suffered abuse, but no more than that. And she is not the only person I know who was abused as a child by a female. So, in my limited experience, I know two people who have survived this.

One of the things the article covered was the fact that this is such a little known area of abuse. Though indeed statistics show that only 20% of reported abuse is by women, what does that mean in real terms of actual abuse? And how much more unreported? I can't begin to imagine.

So why am I putting this in the Self Development blog? Because we all have different issues to overcome and, sadly, abuse (of many types) is a huge one in many peoples lives.

Esther Ranzten (founder of the Charity ChildLine, now part of the NSPCC) said something on the lines of 'if we are supposed to learn about love, trust, respect and affection from our parents, and we learn instead shame, unhappiness and self-loathing, it's no wonder that these create life-long problems'.

But the term used for those people who suffered abuse is 'survivors', not victims. That is key in moving on from any kind of abuse, I believe. The good thing is that there is help for people, whether through the NHS, independent therapists or charities such as The Aurora Health Foundation.

The point of this post is not to offer any opinion or great solution, just to raise awareness and let people know that if they are a survivor, they are not alone, and there is help out there.