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The ‘Towers of Silence’ Still Stand: Protecting the Perpetrator
Author(s) -
Schlunke Jan
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.2003.tb00548.x
Subject(s) - silence , child sexual abuse , psychology , criminology , project commissioning , sexual abuse , sexual assault , style (visual arts) , unit (ring theory) , publishing , social psychology , sociology , law , political science , poison control , suicide prevention , medicine , history , art , aesthetics , medical emergency , mathematics education , archaeology
This paper explores the idea that professionals in the arena of child sexual abuse can be induced to respond irrationally, through their wish to protect child victims. I examine why child victims of serious sexual assault are treated as the alleged perpetrator should be. That is, when the family unit cannot give the child a safe environment, the child (not the alleged perpetrator) is removed. I argue for a systems focus, examining how each section of the protective industry: lawyers, CSV protective workers, therapists and consultants can contribute to perpetuating and sustaining child abuse. The article is written in a style that plays on the boundaries between academic article and fiction to heighten the effect of my case material.