Compassion and Scepticism in Child Sexual Abuse; Some Historical Aspects and Explanations
| Author | H.E.M. Baartman |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975809800500204 |
| Published date | 01 January 1998 |
| Date | 01 January 1998 |
International Review ofVictimology, 1998,
Vol.
5,
pp.l89-202
0269-7580/98$10
© 1998 A B Academic
Publishers-
Printed in Great Britain
COMPASSION
AND
SCEPTICISM
IN
CHILD
SEXUAL
ABUSE;
SOME
HISTORICAL
ASPECTS
AND
EXPLANATIONS
H.E.M. BAARTMAN
Vrije Universiteit, Dept.
of
Pedagogics,
Van
der Boechorststraat
1,
I 081
BT
Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
ABSTRACT
The sexual abuse
of
children
is
the subject
of
heated social debate. The general outrage with which
this theme was placed on the public agenda
in
the 1970s has, to a considerable extent, made room
for doubts about the reliability
of
children as witnesses and
of
professionals
as
their informants.
History shows a parallel to this pendularmovement
in
late nineteenth-century France; initial anxiety
concerning the magnitude and seriousness
of
the sexual abuse
of
children, first expressed by Tardieu
in the mid-19th century, turned later into scepticism. This article describes some
of
the aspects that
play a role
in
the difficulty which society has in taking child sexual abuse seriously: the isolation
of
sexuality, ambivalences- in the societal image
of
children, the status
of
parents and that
of
professionals.
INTRODUCTION
Child sexual abuse has been a controversial item for as long as it has been written
about and discussed -and it still is.
'It
divides social workers against psychia-
trists, therapists against investigators against prosecutors against judges against
jurors, and every player against society itself' (Summit, 1986;
p.
xi). In 1988
Hechler published a book with the revealing title The Battle and the Backlash;
the Child Sexual Abuse
War,
which illustrates the discord described by Summit
(Hechler, 1988).
Compassion for sexually abused children, and rebukes towards them and
towards those who look after the interests
of
these children (including doctors,
social workers and scientists) for their unpleasant news, have taken turns for
more than a hundred years. Masson (1984) described how victims
of
child sexual
abuse were both pitied and blamed by French physicians
in
the late 19th century.
When child sexual abuse was placed on the public agenda in the early 1980s,
compassion for the victimized children played first fiddle in the media and this
was expressed in criticism of society's slow response rather than
of
the protection
system. Compassion for accused parents, together with criticism
of
witch-
hunting and
of
over-hasty protection comprised the tenor
of
the media coverage
in the early 1990s in the United States as well as
in
Europe (Myers, 1994
).
The
traditional reluctance
to
believe a sexually abused child
in
court proceedings
is
described
by
Undeutsch (1967). For example, the German sexologist Moll
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