Hurt
Stuart Nicklin
Friday, October 8, 2010
Julia Webb-Harvey; Live It Publishing; ISBN 9781906954093; 17.99; 343 pages
This book allows four anonymous parents to tell the story of how sexual abuse affected their children, their families and themselves. As well as the practical issues of disclosure, investigation and prosecution, the book focuses on the emotional effects of each parent's discovery that a child they believed they were protecting had been violated, often by someone they trusted, and how these emotions continue to affect the parents' relationships with others, both within and beyond the family.
By including the stories in the parents' own words, the book helps the reader begin to understand the extent of the trauma and distress caused by sexual abuse. Webb-Harvey's own commentary is kept separate but places the parents' experiences in the context of the wider work she and her colleagues do at Mosac, a charity that supports the families of abused children.
The book is immediately accessible, but is emotionally difficult to read because of the horrors described. The parents also touch on the frustration they felt when dealing with professional agencies, which often seemed unsympathetic at best and obstructive at worst.
I would recommend the book to anyone working in child protection as it provides useful case study evidence of the potential dangers of introducing new members into family households. I would also recommend it to those working with non-abusing members of the victims' families — it offers hope that healing is possible and that a victims' resilience can prevail if they are given enough support and care.
Stuart Nicklin, project manager, sexual abuse support organisation SWAAY
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