With South Africa leading the globe at 132.4 incidents of rape per 100,000 people (May 2021), the sexual abuse of women and children of both sexes is still disgustingly rampant. Although the current national spotlight is on gender-based violence, efforts driven by government and the civil society have near no authority to amend the culture of families. Nor do we, in the social justice sector yet fully understand why so many people, even in the presence of overwhelming evidence, choose to cover up sexual abuse. The reasons people do not acknowledge or report sexual abuse are extremely complex. In this article I shed some light and provoke your thoughts on the role social and individual psychology could be playing in the conspiracy of silence around child sexual abuse.
I share my story to make this point; many families will go to extraordinary lengths to conceal child abuse from strangers, extended family and friends. Is the deliberate concealment of child abuse a strategy enabled by organized society at large? by Tracey-Lee Kotzen CEO | Mental Wellness Initiative
Collective Action Magazine | 35
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