When a child experiences severe trauma, the trauma remains trapped in the various layers of the child’s being – not just the physical body – unless it is released and prevented from hijacking the child’s body, heart, mind, or spirit again. The traumatized child may react in fear or powerlessness to harmless situations. Some hyper-vigilantly look out for danger, even when no danger is present. Simply put, the child’s sense of safety has been destroyed.
Trauma can program the intelligence of the physical body to protect and defend itself. When the child sees or hears the abuser approaching, the body begins to panic and engages in a stress response. This stress reaction can be triggered by anything that reminds the child of the abuser or anyone the child suspects will behave like their abuser. The stress reaction is triggered by even the thought or memory of the abuser.
But there’s hope. The sense of safety can be restored. Of course, the child must be removed from hostile and unsafe environments. The child also has to learn not to unwittingly create a hostile environment.
Research by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Gabor Maté, and Dr. Peter Levine reveal effective ways to restore the traumatized child’s sense of safety.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk found performing in theater plays help restore agency and power, yoga helps reconnect their consciousness back into their bodies, and that specific eye movement patterns provide relief from chronic, overwhelming emotions.
Dr. Gabor Maté delves into the impact of childhood trauma and resulting symptoms, such as addictive behaviors used to sooth and calm themselves. The addictive behaviors expand beyond just alcohol and drug abuse. He affirms the need to restore the child’s sense of self and approach the behavior with compassion and understanding.
Dr. Peter Levine guides traumatized clients to mindful awareness of their physical body’s translation of the harm experienced in the past. He presents somatic techniques to release chronic stress and reprogram the body to exist comfortably in safe environments.
With better understanding of the root causes of trauma and with the various tools and techniques shared by these trauma experts, we can seek alternative approaches of relief of childhood trauma.
For people who have been sexually abused as children, the life path to overcoming the trauma suffered is not a clear, straight line. Sometimes the path is a series of loops where the overall hope is progression towards peace of mind, peace of heart and maybe even to a joyful life.
Some of us thrive as adults. We managed to perform well academically and secure stable jobs. We start a loving family with a trustworthy partner. But we may stumble along the way. It’s important to realize when and why we’re stumbling and to be compassionate with ourselves along the way.
Some of us jump into situations that perpetuate our own victimization as we try to fill the hole of unworthiness in our being. However, some suffer continuous victimization through means beyond our control, such as through the distribution of child sexual abuse material depicting our exploitation.
We are breaking our silence and joining hands with experts who can help disrupt this distribution. Teams of humble heroes are committed to safeguarding children across the globe.
In Canada, Project Arachnid by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection crawls the Internet for known CSAM and helps remove this material.
New movement at the global level on the removal of CSAM has been undertaken by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. In June 2023, 73 countries agreed to call for the removal of known CSAM, including the Phillippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam here in Southeast Asia.
On 10 March 2023, ECPAT และ PPSEAWA hosted an online event dedicated the voices of child survivors of sexual exploitation to better understand “their personal lived experiences with disclosure, their engagement with law enforcement mechanisms, the criminal justice process and with social services”. Snow White O. Smelser, who currently serves as a UNODC child safety advisor, shared the following during the event.
Warm greetings from Thailand. Thank you, ECPAT and PPSEAWA, for honoring the voices of survivors of child sexual exploitation. This platform brings hope to child survivors who don’t have the opportunity or the courage to speak for themselves … or whose voices get muted.
Sadly, some victims of sexual exploitation and abuse do not survive and thrive. To cope with the deep trauma, many fall into long-term antisocial behavior, like alcoholism and drug addiction. Some can’t cope so commit suicide.
I myself survived child sexual abuse from the ages of 6 to 9. I was a shy, angelic child, loved by all my teachers, and my parents taught me to “do as you’re told (by adults)”. I didn’t understand what my uncle was doing to me until I learned in school about abuse in its different forms. I then felt so guilty and dirty and cursed with sexiness. He threatened to kill my mother if I told anyone. It was hard to focus on maintaining good grades in school when my mind and heart were suffering. I attempted suicide when I was 9. As I waited for the fatal end to occur, I remember suddenly changing my mind. I realized that I didn’t want my mom to suffer with the heartbreak of losing me. Luckily, my suicide attempt failed – but I suffered psychologically and emotionally in fear of boys and men until my late teenage years. At 16, I decided that my abuser would no longer have power over my emotions and my life.
In the 1990s, emailing and surfing the Internet became common practice in my university. I loved technology and its benefits. I studied web design and development and began my career in the tech industry building websites for local companies. I was in Friendster and MySpace. I searched for my abuser online back then, but I didn’t find him in those online platforms. I was free from him, and I was thriving.
In 2007, I was unexpectedly hired by the Royal Thai Police’s specialist division on crimes against women and children as their in-house translator. To help me learn the necessary Thai technical language, the police introduced me to ECPAT resources in English and in Thai. (I have loved ECPAT ever since!)
I remember when the Thai police arrested the swirly-face Canadian man wanted by INTERPOL for sexually abusing children in Thailand. I sat in the room with the suspect, quietly trembling in fear as childhood memories came flooding back. I kept my adverse childhood experience a secret even when I joined the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok to work on a project specifically on transnational child sex offenders. My experience gave me a special perspective when observing the efforts made and not made to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Disclosing our traumatic experience of sexual abuse is a tremendously difficult feat. We’ve already been vulnerable, exploited, and wounded by the abusers. Are we brave enough to face the heartbreak when the people we trust enough to disclose this violation to just dismiss us with their disbelief and denial? It hurts to open up and hear, “you were just having bad dreams”, “I didn’t see him do that to you”, “you’re just making up stories”. I have heard worse reactions from untrained police officers and even the mothers as they blamed the children for inciting the abuse. We need to provide a safe space for child victims to be heard and show them our efforts of seeking appropriate help.
Now, as a UNODC advisor on child sexual exploitation and abuse online and offline, I am blessed to be working with the brilliant and passionate Ending Violence against Children team, led by Alexandra Martins in Vienna. No more keeping the secret. This time I told my new team and our lovely UK Government donor that I myself am a child survivor. I told them if my abuse had happened in this digital age and crossed-over online, I would not be alive right now. They embraced my disclosure with empathy, and we all are driven to make real-life impact in honor of child survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse online and offline. We are partnering with child-centered NGOs, including ECPAT, on something that has not been tried before. Something that may rock the online and offline worlds.
In conclusion, victims become survivors when we can overcome the impact of abuse and live without fear. With love and support, we can be like lotus flowers that start off in the mud, reach for the sky, and blossom into beautiful adults. Thank you, Dr. Raj, for encouraging me to share my story. Thank you all for providing this platform to acknowledge and share the voices of child survivors around the world. It means more to us than my words can say.
Update: In mid-February 2021, the man in the above story passed away of a heart attack while helping friends move to a new house. He will remain an inspiration for voicing the impact of sexual abuse on children.
นักวิจัยพบว่าวิธีที่มีประสิทธิภาพที่สุดในการประเมินมูลค่าความเสียหายที่เกิดขึ้นทั่วโลก ในแง่ของความเสียหายที่เกิดขึ้นกับร่างกาย จิตใจ และความรุนแรงทางเพศ คือการคำนวน ความสูญเสียของประสิทธิผลมวลรวมของประเทศ (The Cost and Economic Impact of Violence against Children, ChildFund 2014) ซึ่งประเทศไทยมี GDP อยู่ที่ 387.25 พันล้านเหรียญสหรัฐในปี 2014 ความสูญเสียของประสิทธิผลมวลรวมของประเทศไทยถูกประเมินไว้ที่ 30.98 พันล้านเหรียญสหรัฐหรือ 8% ของ GDP ของประเทศ เมื่อ GDP ของประเทศเติบโตขึ้น ความสูญเสียทางเศรษฐกิจที่เกิดขึ้นจากความรุนแรงต่อเด็กก็จะเพิ่มขึ้นเช่นกัน หากประเทศไทยลงทุนในการปกป้องคุ้มครองเด็กๆ ประเทศก็จะสามารถลดค่าใช้จ่ายที่ต้องสูญเสียไปกับการรักษาพยาบาลและการพักฟื้นได้
Source: Estimating the Economic Burden of Violence against Children in East Asia and the Pacific – (UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office, 2014)
In December 2015, the Thai National Legislative Assembly passed the bill criminalizing the possession of child sexual abuse material nearly unanimously, with 193 of 196 members voting in favor of the law.
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