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March 14, 2006
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING
Testimony of Ann Hagan Webb, Ed.D Wellesley,
Massachusetts
I
am a licensed psychologist in specializing in adult
survivors of childhood sexual abuse, New England
Coordinator for the Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests, and a survivor of childhood
sexual abuse and rape beginning when I was 5.
I
have counseled and listened to scores of sexual
abuse survivors. Their stories are heart-wrenching
accounts of betrayed trusts, terror, humiliation,
and trauma.
The
psychological effects of the sexual abuse of
children are a laundry list of life long symptoms
and syndromes, including chronic post traumatic
stress symptoms, depression, anxiety, suicide, drug
and alcohol dependency, dissociation, flashbacks,
hyper-vigilance, sleeplessness, trust issues,
intimacy problems and more.
Let
me paint a typical picture of what happens to a
child who is sexually abused. The perpetrator is
someone the child knows and trusts, often someone
she loves. In this “good” relationship the adult
begins to introduce sex. Instinctively the child
knows this is wrong and should be kept secret. Since
the trusted adult must be “good” the child concludes
that she must be the “Bad” one.
Sex
can’t be placed in any context in her world. It
simply does not compute. The defense mechanism of
dissociation takes place. The child’s psyche
protects her from the horror and confusion and lets
her forget. But the trauma memory is stored in the
recesses of her psyche, to be rediscovered years or
decades later when she has the strength to cope with
its impact.
Other children simply put the experience away,
underestimating its impact, and try move on. They
realize many years later that they didn’t move on at
all, as they begin to examine their dysfunctional
lives
Of
all the symptoms, SHAME is the most pervasive and
lasting. Logic doesn’t help it go away. Shame
keeps children from telling anyone when it first
happens, and can keep them silent for many, many
years.
Victims, without exception, blame themselves for
what happened. It is the only way they can make
sense of something so horrible, thinking “I must
have deserved it,” “I didn’t fight hard enough,” or
”I shouldn’t have been so gullible.”
I
urge this committee to consider the devastating
negative power the crimes of rape and sexual abuse
have over their victims, especially children. These
crimes, like no other category of crime, leave
victims blaming themselves. It often takes decades
to get past that. Sexual predators know this, and
it is one of their two best friends. The other is
the Statutes of Limitations on sex abuse crimes. It
is my job to help victims overcome their shame. Your
job is to fix the laws, and bridge the justice gap –
eliminate the SOL’.s Take away the safety net that
protects sexual predators from the justice they
deserve.
I
urge this committee to send these bills to the
legislative floor. Let them stand on their own merit
in the democratic process. The children of
Massachusetts deserve nothing less than “zero
tolerance” of sexual abuse. The sexual predators of
Massachusetts are hoping you’ll stop these bills
here. Only you can choose who you will champion,
children or predators. The choice should be crystal
clear.
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