FROM VICTIMS TO SURVIVORS: Understanding the victims’ suffering

This chapter presents a review of the literature related to the impact of sexual abuse in human development and focuses on abuses perpetrated on children. It is divided in three sections. First, the author analyzes the short term and long-term consequences of sexual abuse. It is important to recognize that sexual abuse is not experienced in the same way by victims in different stages of development; consequently, risk factors and protective factors intervene in the processes that determine the outcome of the experience. Special attention is given to the role of spirituality and/or religiosity in human development and the effect of abuse perpetrated by religious authorities. Secondly, employing a systemic approach, the author discusses the role of social and cultural factors that contribute to the occurrence, the maintenance, and the denial of child sexual abuse, and the ways in which these variables support or hinder the resiliency of the victims. Finally, integrating recent discoveries about the characteristics of institutional abuse, the author argues that this concept could contribute to the understanding of the recent sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, and should help develop adequate treatment and preventive services.