Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Male child sexual abuse victims at higher heart attack risk

 I found this study on the internet and thought I would be good to post it on this blog. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120906123240.htm
I have posted several other articles and studies that have to do with the long term effects of child sexual abuse. This study showed that:

 "Men who reported they were sexually abused during childhood were particularly vulnerable to having a heart attack later in life,"

It continues to sadden me that those of us who have survived this horrible epidemic have to deal with it's consequences indefinitely. Yet those who commit this terrible crime and are held accountable through the court system, don't like that they have to be labeled as a sexual offender. They especially hate having to be on the sexual offender registry. I say if you harm a child irreparably you should be held accountable for that. If that means you have a permanent label then you should have thought about that prior to sexually abusing a child. I usually don't get off on a rant like this but there are times I get fed up with those who complain that they served their time so they shouldn't have to be on the SOR. There is a whole movement to abolish the SOR. They claim they are violated because they have to be a registered sex offender. That their human rights have been irreparably harmed. I especially love to read how those in the movement to abolish the SOR are against child abuse. I laugh when I read that because if this were true they would be doing things to make children safe. They would believe that 93% of child who are sexually abused know their abuser. They would believe that before a child sexual offender gets caught they have abused up to 100 times. This means they have viewed child sexual abuse media or touched a child, or groomed a child, etc. before they get caught. If they meant that child abuse was wrong they wouldn't call those who speak out against this epidemic "perpetual victims."

What they wouldn't do is to claim that the SOR doesn't work because those who get caught are first time offenders. As I have stated previously this is inaccurate as most offenders abuse at least 100 times before they get caught. Just because someone hasn't gotten caught doesn't mean they haven't harmed a child previously. If they would read the statistics and studies they may awakened to this reality. They don't want to be in my opinion because then their argument wouldn't hold water. Sorry for the rant just disgusted. Rosie


Childhood Sexual Abuse Linked to Later Heart Attacks in Men


ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2012) — Men who experienced childhood sexual abuse are three times more likely to have a heart attack than men who were not sexually abused as children, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Toronto. The researchers found no association between childhood sexual abuse and heart attacks among women.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

In Plain View How child molesters get away with it.

The New Yorker did a wonderful article on pedophiles and child molesters. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/09/24/120924crat_atlarge_gladwell
The article is called:

      In Plain View

      How child molesters get away with it.

      by September 24, 2012

      Jerry Sandusky built a sophisticated grooming operation, outsourcing to child-care professionals the task of locating vulnerable children
      Jerry Sandusky built a sophisticated grooming operation, outsourcing to child-care professionals the task of locating vulnerable children—all the while playing the role of lovable goofball.  ILLUSTRATION: A. J. Frackattack; PHOTOGRAPH: Gene J. Puskar/AP
      Going to the link on the New Yorker only allows a non-subscription reader to read the first couple of pages. The complete article is six pages long. I did find a blog that was able to post the complete article.

      Saturday, September 22, 2012

      Sexual predators in police 'must be rooted out'

      This article is very important. I think all police in this global world of ours need to be rooted out for sexual predatory behavior. If they are to investigate abuse how can they be non-biased if they are partaking of what they are investigating? While this article doesn't just focus on child sexual predatory behavior exclusively, this is part of what needs to be rooted out. We don't do enough in any profession to make sure children are safe with adults. Even adults who are supposed to be the very people who are to protect them. That is why child sexual abuse is so insidious. Ninety three percent of those who sexually abuse children know them. They have spent time grooming the child, the child's family and more then likely the community at large. So when I see an article where sexually predatory behavior is taken seriously I think I need to post it on this blog. Rosie

        Sexual predators in police 'must be rooted out'

        IPCC says police abuse of colleagues or members of the public is corrupt and not enough is being done to stop it

        Revealed: the scale of sexual abuse by police officers
        IPCC chair, Anne Owers, said the police must take steps to reduce predatory behaviour
        IPCC chair, Anne Owers, said the police must take steps to reduce predatory behaviour. Photograph: Rex Features
        Sexual predators in the police service must be treated as corrupt officers and rooted out by their senior supervisors, the police watchdog has said.
        The Independent Police Complaints Commission said the service was not doing enough to stop suspect sexual behaviour by officers. Instead, it was treating individual cases as isolated, and failing to carry out reviews and learn lessons to prevent such abuse taking place again, the IPCC said in a report published on Thursday.
        It warned that failure to stop such behaviour could lead to an escalating scale of sexual abuse against members of the public, or police staff, or both. "This is supported by what is known about how the behaviour of sexual offenders can escalate over time," the IPCC said.
        The report highlights failings that in some cases have allowed individuals with a history of inappropriate behaviour to continue targeting vulnerable women and men they meet while on duty.
        Dame Anne Owers, the chair of the IPCC, said more work was needed to identify the scale of the problem. "We do not know precisely how many people have been victims of police officers or staff abusing their powers; we are only aware of the individuals who have had the confidence to come forward," the report said.

        Tuesday, September 18, 2012

        When a boy is sexually abused by a woman ‘people do not often recognize the harm’

        This is an important article and discusses the double standard, at times, (when a woman abuses a boy) that there is when it comes to the sexual abuse of boys compared to girls. The effects of the sexual abuse are no different for a boy or girl. They both bring shame, confusion, a breech of trust, guilt, and life long issues they will have to deal with. The big difference is that when a woman sexually abuses a boy society sometimes has a different reaction. It is looked at as a right of passage, like it is a good thing. There are several instances I can think of when a woman has abused a boy when the press has printed articles that claimed the effect is different for a boy.

        While woman as sexual predators are unusual it still occurs. I think the numbers are higher then is currently known. The shame on both boys and girls of being sexually abused by a woman is great. I experienced this at the hands of Ruth. She felt that "massaging" her children or having them engaging in "massaging" each other was okay. It was very confusing because she was my mother (and I use that word loosely). When I was a teenager and I would find boys, (under the age of consent) in our house who would come running down stairs (Ruth's bedroom was upstairs) buckling their pants and acting embarrassed because someone else was in the house. Then Ruth would slowly follow them down stairs with this Cheshire cat smirk on her face. I thought the whole thing was disgusting and I found it embarrassing to have a parent who would choose to think it was okay to have sex with children. The fact that one boy in particular kept coming back (I thought willingly) was even more embarrassing because he was also dating a friend of mine. I finally had to tell him I would tell his girlfriend what he was doing if he didn't stop. It hadn't dawned on me at that time, that Ruth was being a sexual predator toward him and that he may not have wanted to be doing what they were doing. Of course Ruth wasn't happy when he didn't return she was furious over it and didn't understand what happened. I wasn't telling or I would have been beaten with in an inch of my life. Ruth was doing this while she had a live in boyfriend in the house. I couldn't tell him either because of fear of being harmed.

        We need to continue to look at what motivates a woman to sexually abuse a child. I have read statistics where when asked, almost one hundred percent of women who sexually abused children said they themselves had survived sexual abuse as a child. The statistics are lower for male sexual predators their statics are around thirty percent. One of the reasons I have read that the statistics for male sexual predators are lower is that some don't acknowledge what was done to them was sexual abuse. They believe they were willing partners and therefore weren't abused. This also allows them to continue to sexually abuse children and to believe the children were willing participants. If they were to acknowledge they were sexually abused as children would mean they would have to acknowledge they were sexually abusing children. Until more is known as to what peripatetics someone sexually abusing a child the longer this epidemic is going to continue.
        There is good news though and that is that every person who was sexually abused doesn't go onto sexually abuse. Which means that just because someone was sexually abused as a child doesn't mean that they will go onto sexually abuse. It also means that those who sexually abuse make a choice to do so and should be held accountable for their actions. Rosie

        By , Published: September 2
        Keyvette Gamble went to a friend’s house with her 4-year-old daughter, playing cards into the early morning with plans to spend the night at the Southwest Washington apartment. After everyone had nodded off, Gamble slipped over to a bed where her friend’s 14-year-old son was sleeping.
        Gamble, 24, then sexually assaulted the teenage boy, according to court records. The attack in September was one of three child sex abuse cases to reach a D.C. courtroom this year that involved an adult female defendant accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
        While sex abuse cases are all too common, prosecutors and child victim advocates say prosecutions of adult women sexually attacking boys are extremely rare. All unrelated, the three cases in the District surprised local authorities and have raised awareness of an often-underreported crime.
        “This is unusual,” said prosecutor Kelly Higashi, chief of the sex offense and domestic violence section of the D.C. Superior Court unit for the U.S. attorney’s office. “People do not often recognize the harm this does to a boy.”

        Thursday, September 13, 2012

        The Importance of Processing Pain

        I found this short article the other day on twitter. It struck a cord with me because my dealing with the pain and destruction of my childhood and early adulthood, is the reason I am where I am in my life. When one survives multiple traumas, especially child sexual abuse the easiest thing to do is try to ignore it. This leads to addictions, mental and physical health issues and a lower quality of life then someone should have. One of the biggest obstacles for me was that I knew I would have to distance myself from Ruth (biological mother). Doing this also meant I had to distance myself from some of my siblings who weren't ready to distance Ruth from their lives. Ruth would make all of her children take sides. If she was mad at one of us she wanted us all mad at the person as well. This was one of the hardest decisions I had to make but I knew it was in mine and my children's best interests.

        Getting myself into therapy to help me deal with my trauma issues was the best thing I did in my life besides to have my children. I was in therapy for several years and I would be lying if I said it was easy. It wasn't. There were plenty of times I wanted to just give up and not deal with the pain anymore. One of the things about therapy is that once one layer of pain is dealt with another layer pops up. That is one of the things that got tiresome. I would get frustrated because I wanted instant gratification and wanted to be "healed" immediately. That won't ever happen. The reason more layers were able to come up was that my psyche was ready to deal with it. I have been told that if I remembered the ritual abuse when I was nineteen when I started having flashbacks that I would have ended up psychotic and/or suicidal. I married my children's father because my psyche knew he was abusive and my being abused would keep me from remembering the ritual abuse. As bad as it was to be in domestic violence I remain in awe of how the brain works. Once I got out of the domestic violence and received intensive cognitive behavioral therapy the other layers started to crop up.

        Another reality is that if I didn't delve into the pain and trauma I was at risk of repeating the same cycle Ruth repeated. I didn't want that for my children. I wanted them to have a better life and I wanted to make sure that I was part of breaking a cycle that occurred for at least four generations. If that is the only thing I accomplished in my life I have accomplished something that impacts generations to come. What a good legacy to be part of. As hard as things were at times I am thankful I perservered and did the hard work that was required. I am also grateful for all of the people in my life who played a role in my healing. God put good people in my life at the right times. My life is a blessing and I need to never forget that.  Issues will still pop up at times which makes me grateful I did the hard work. I know handle the issues more appropriately then I ever had. Feeling very blessed, Rosie



        The Importance of Processing Pain

        Posted: 09/07/2012 12:40 pm
        Some say that pain of the heart is the worst kind to experience. There is no surgery, no medicine, no band-aid that will truly minimize the suffering. That dull, chronic pain feels like it is with you every where you go. It's at the core of your thoughts, it haunts you right before you go to sleep -- it feels attached, as if it is a part of you.

        Monday, September 10, 2012

        One of the outcomes for survivors of child sexual abuse


        I just read the article http://richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2012/9/8/church-s-suicide-victims#.UE322y7_8Ep.twitter and it made me so sad. I know there are many many people who are trying to get the word out on the devastating effects of child sexual abuse. I appreciate them in their efforts. The reality is that there isn't enough information about the long term effects on someone who has survived sexual abuse out there to the masses yet. This is another story about how the Church has hidden information pertaining to sexual abuses. The suicide rate is higher among survivors of sexual abuse. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/192/4/suicide-and-fatal-drug-overdose-child-sexual-abuse-victims-historical-cohort For the Church to cover this up is just disgusting and hiding this fact plays into the theory that there are no long term effects for someone who has survived sexual abuse.

        There are those (especially those who are part of the movement to abolish the sexual offender registry) who honestly believe that there are no long term effects of child sexual abuse. They argue that those of us who share our stories and try to educate on this topic are being perpetual victims. This just isn't so, it's that we know first hand the impact that this terrible epidemic has had on us and we share our stories so others will learn of this impact. There are times when I still get upset over the reality that I suffer long term affects from the trauma I survived, and that I did nothing to cause it (the song Wildflower by Skylark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9bJJNUdXEs has always been able to put in words what this is like for me). It was "adults" who felt that they had the right to take away a child's innocence. It is hard for people who have not survived this (especially the perpetrators themselves) to fathom what it is like to have to deal with the long term effects. I am lucky very lucky that I have had the support in my life that has helped me to get in my life where I am. Unfortunately there are those who don't get the same opportunities I have had. There are those who get into drugs and alcohol as a way to cope with what they have survived. Again I am fortunate as I didn't do this but I certainly got into destructive addictive relationships.

        I have been thinking a lot about the reality that the reason a lot (not all) of people as adults who don't know how to be good parents, communicate, love unconditionally, are addicted to drugs, alcohol, have mental health issues, can't hold jobs or are workaholics, etc. is because our rate of child abuse in this country is so high. We don't do near enough to insure that children have stable, happy childhoods. I can tell you that Ruth and Jack (my parents) came from the same type of environment I was raised in. When I traced my family history back four generations every generation has survived a traumatic childhood. Traumatic childhoods reek havoc on a society when these children grow up and don't have the skills to maintain good healthy relationships, etc. I am beginning to believe that schools (from kindergarten on) should be required to teach inter-communication skills, coping skills, anger management, life skills, how words do hurt, etc. I honestly believe that if this were to happen that when these children grew up the rates of addiction would be lessened. The rates of adults repeating the same type of trauma to their children that was done to them would go down. There is no magic bullet I understand that. Still we need to do something as a society to increase the likelihood that inter-generational abuse gets stopped so that we can become a nation that values it's children and wants adults to have the best lives possible. Rosie




        Church's suicide victims

        by theage.com.au - Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Jane Lee posted on September 08, 2012 03:00PM GMT
        Thanks to msloane for the link

        CONFIDENTIAL police reports have detailed the suicides of at least 40 people sexually abused by Catholic clergy in Victoria, and have urged a new inquiry into these and many other deaths suspected to be linked to abuse in the church.

        Rob-walsh-420x0
        Rob Walsh, whose cousin Martin, and brothers Noel and Damien committed suicide after being abused. Photo: Paul Rovere Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/churchs-suicide-victims-20120412-1wwox.html#ixzz25tG9yBhA

        Wednesday, September 5, 2012

        Biddeford pastor arrested on child porn charges

        I had to back away from writing so much about child sexual abuse predators. It becomes overwhelming sometimes just to look and focus on them. The number of stories about child sexual predators preying on children are so high, and just keep coming. Don't get me wrong I'm not stopping but I just needed a breather. That is until this story of another Pastor who is supposed to be a man of God who gets arrested because he owns child sexual abuse media (aka child pornography). This is why so much more education needs to occur on the professions of child sexual predators. People need to focus on the reality that anyone who has access to children can potentially harm them. I know that this is a dark response to this topic but it is true. Do I think that people shouldn't trust other people? No. I just think we need to be hypervigilant when it comes to the safety of our children. I think it is very possible that victims of this predator will come to light. Someone just doesn't wake up at the age of sixty and decide to download child sexual abuse media. I am glad that this predator got caught. I am sorry that he felt owning images of children being sexually abused was an okay thing to do. There will be those who will complain that he only had one hundred pieces of media that isn't much, that harboring child sexual abuse media is a victimless crime. No matter how much information gets out that harboring child sexual abuse media isn't a victimless crime, there will be those who choose to believe otherwise. I honestly feel sorry for them that they don't have compassion enough to understand that child sexual abuse is wrong, a crime and harms children irreparably.  Rosie

        Police say James Napier, 60, had more than 100 pictures on his computer of children, some under the age of 12, engaged in sexual activity.

        BIDDEFORD — A local pastor who ministers to the homeless in downtown Biddeford has been charged with possession of child pornography.
        James Napier, 60, was arrested Saturday at his home in Alfred by Maine State Police after detectives searched the residence and found more than 100 pictures on his computer of children, some under the age of 12, engaged in sexual activity.

        Monday, September 3, 2012

        Maine Voices: We need to open our eyes to child sexual assault – and act

        I came across this article surfing the net.http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/we-need-to-open-our-eyes-to-child-sexual-assault-and-act_2012-08-10.html#  It is very good and goes into great detail about the grooming process of child sexual predators. This includes the grooming of families as well. That is one of the things that needs more attention. There is information out there about the grooming of children (not enough yet) but, not so much about grooming families. I have talked at length at different times on this blog about how child sexual abuse predators groom families. They do this buy ingratiating themselves into the life of the family. They usually come across as very kind and helpful. They look for the weak areas of a families and purposely try to help out in that area. For instance if there is a problem with a family car or scheduling they will offer to help give rides. If the family is short on money he/she will go an purchase food or offer to give money. If the parent(s) need help with child care they will offer to watch the child(ren). For a family this can feel like a godsend and the family more then likely will accept. The child sexual predator will also start to try to spend one on one time with their intended victim. They may purchase the child gifts, give them money or become a sounding board if the child is mad about something their parents did. I have read stories where a child was really upset with their parents and the child sexual predator sided with the child (even though the parents were right). Once this happened the child purposely will spend time with the child sexual predator and this may cause the child to act out more at home. The most disgusting thing about this is that the child sexual predator is doing all of this not because he/she is philanthropic but, solely because they want to have access to the intended child victim. In my opinion this is the epitome of pure evil. Rosie

        August 10, 2012

        Maine Voices: We need to open our eyes to child sexual assault – and act

        We're 'groomed' to avoid the disturbing specifics. Meanwhile, someone may be 'grooming' your child.

        By BILL DIAMOND
        To groom, according to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, means to get into readiness for a specific objective. Certainly that's a straightforward definition that most people understand in their routine use of the English language. However, in the dark and horrific world of child sexual assault, the word "groom" has an entirely different meaning.
        Grooming in that world describes how sexual predators prepare young victims by gaining their trust and, consequently, access to their minds and bodies. Grooming by a predator may take months, even years. Most child sexual molesters are either members of the child's family or are well known by the family; in fact, research tells us that over 90 percent of sexual assaults are committed by people who fall into one of those two categories. Consequently, the opportunities for predators to initiate grooming techniques are virtually unlimited.
        An example of parental grooming is illustrated in the recent arrests made in a multi-nation child pornography case. In May of this year, police arrested Michael Arnett of Roeland Park, Kan., for possessing shocking child pornographic photos and explicit chats about child abuse on his computer that allegedly he produced. According to an article published Aug. 5 in the Maine Sunday Telegram and titled, "Even seasoned investigators disturbed by child porn case," police found detailed descriptions and online dialogue on Arnett's computer about abducting, torturing and killing young children. Investigators said the suspect made photos of children he allegedly sexually abused.