2002). This points to the significant role that psychologists and counsellors play in the life of the sexually abused child. In their study Campbell et al. (1999) found that survivors of rape were assisted in recovery by being both validated and supported by their counsellors regarding the rape itself, as well as the negative experiences in the aftermath of disclosure. This finding is important for psychologists as it points to the necessity of a broader therapeutic approach that deals with the distress associated with both the rape and the negative reactions of the society within which the rape is disclosed (Campbell et al., 1999).
evidence for the belief that the medical examination serves to re-victimize the child, as no studies have looked into the child’s perception of why the medical examination is conducted and how it’s related to the child’s emotional impact. This would prove to be considerably important in circumstances where the child perceives the examination to be a means to validate the
truthfulness of their claims. Thus the importance of a child-centred perspective is highlighted, as the way in which children interpret their experiences are not necessarily the same as adults, or the same as adults assume the child’s experience to be. In fact, Britton (1998) suggests that the medical examination has the potential to reassure the child of an absence of physical damage and thus ensure the child’s health, or to allow the opportunity for the child to regain a sense of control over their bodies (Britton, 1998). The current study supports this view as many of the children felt a sense of relief following their hospital visit, predominantly because the medical
examination provided ‘proof’ they had in fact been raped, or because their anxieties around HIV/AIDS were relieved after a negative result in the HIV/AIDS test.
Similarly, children in this sample tended to speak positively regarding their experiences with the police in the aftermath of disclosure. Although delays in being attended to by the police can be experienced as harmful, the trend was more towards the helpfulness of those within the police services. Harmful experiences of the children focused not so much on the services offered by the police and legal professionals, but rather on the absence of information given to them. Children spoke of how they were not clear about court proceedings and how they were unsure of what was expected of them. Similarly Davies, Seymour and Read (2000) found the majority of parents and children survivors of sexual abuse to have positive experiences of the investigation process following disclosure. Unhelpful experiences centered on the collaboration between agencies involved in the process, delay in the process, as well as the provision of information.
In their study, Berliner and Conte (1995) note how some children lacked understanding into the reasons for contact with various system personnel. Many aspects of the legal processes following disclosure can be particularly distressing for children and they stand the risk of being re-
traumatized. A number of fears related to the court room have been reported by children in previous studies. For example, a fear of testifying, fears related to perpetrator retaliation, fears of crying as they are testifying, fears of having to describe in detail the facts of the abuse to
strangers, fears of not understanding what is being asked of them, fears of having made a mistake and thus of being punished or of being sent to jail, and fears of having to prove they are innocent (Dominques, Nelke & Perry, 2002).
It would thus appear that CSA survivors can be harmed, in the aftermath of disclosure, by the lack of information they are given regarding the necessary investigatory processes. The current study suggests that children are harmed by not being informed as to why they are made to see various professionals and what is expected of them during their contact with such professionals.
In the aftermath of disclosure, children are involved in processes of which they would not otherwise be involved. Not being informed of such matters increases the child’s fear of the unknown and adds to the harmful experience of being sexually abused.
Dominques, Nelke and Perry (2002) note the importance of preparing the child for the necessary processes in the aftermath of disclosure. It is important, particularly in the case of adolescents, to inform the CSA survivor of what to expect in the processes following disclosure (Sauzier, 1989).
Children tend to find it helpful when they are treated with care and respect by service delivery personnel. Children like to be told information regarding the various processes and the reasons for them. They don’t wish to feel discounted or pressured, but rather to be given recognition for what they are able to do (Berliner & Conte, 1995).
In addition to being uninformed of the investigatory processes in the aftermath of disclosure, the current study also revealed the experience of perpetrators being prematurely released from prison without informing the child survivors or their families. Thus children had the fear of the
perpetrator striking again. While children articulated the fear of themselves being re-victimized, there was also the fear of the perpetrator victimizing others in the community. Re-victimization of children who have been sexually abused should not be overlooked. In their study, Swanston et al. (2002) revealed that 1 in 3 of their 183 participants experienced re-abuse or neglect within a 6- year follow-up period. These authors also acknowledge that these findings may underestimate the potential of re-victimization due to the abuse of some participants (after the 6-year period) no longer being reported to the child protection authorities from which data were collected, due to
the participant no longer being considered a child. Such results suggest that children who have been sexually abused are subsequently at risk of other forms of abuse.
The likelihood of re-victimization is particularly high for children in the context of South Africa.
In the current study, the majority of rapes took place in the home of the perpetrator (45%), the home of the victim (30%) or in the neighbourhood (10%). Thus children are being victimized in their everyday living environments, and as previously discussed in a large majority of cases, by family members or acquaintances. Thus when perpetrators are prematurely released from their penalties, they are released back into the neighbourhoods or even the homes of the children they victimized. The fear of re-victimization felt by children in the aftermath of disclosure can thus be seen as a result of the failure of the criminal justice system to afford the relevant punishment to the perpetrators of CSA.