Meanings of anti-sexual assault activism among adults who underwent child sexual abuse: “I survived by knowing that I was going to act”

IF 3.4 2区心理学 Q1 FAMILY STUDIES Child Abuse & Neglect Pub Date : 2025-01-21 DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107249

Afnan Attrash-Najjar , Carmit Katz

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Abstract

Background

Despite the acknowledged importance of advocacy among individuals who experienced violence, there is limited scholarly exploration of how adult individuals who experienced child sexual abuse (CSA) perceive and engage in anti-sexual assault activism.

Objective

This study, conducted in Israel by the Israeli Public Inquiry on CSA, explores how adult activists, who are also CSA survivors, perceive anti-sexual assault activism, the meanings they attribute to their involvement, and how their childhood trauma connects to their activism.

Methods

The study employed semi-structured interviews with 14 individuals who experienced CSA, predominantly from the Jewish community. The interviews were conducted in 2022, and the study utilized an inductive thematic analysis approach.

Results

The qualitative analysis identified four main themes: 1) the definition of anti-sexual assault activism, 2) the goals of anti-sexual assault activism, 3) the meanings of anti-sexual assault activism, and 4) the inside-outside process of personal flourishing.

Conclusions

This study highlights how activism can transform the lives of CSA survivors by empowering them, challenging injustice, and advocating for systemic change. It advances understanding by emphasizing activism's dual role of personal healing and societal impact. The findings suggest that policies should integrate activism into therapeutic practices, provide platforms for survivors' voices, and promote community-building to support CSA survivors and address systemic shortcomings.

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遭受儿童性虐待的成年人中反性侵犯行动主义的意义：“我知道我要采取行动，所以我活了下来。”

背景：尽管在经历过暴力的个人中倡导的重要性得到公认，但关于经历过儿童性虐待（CSA）的成人如何感知和参与反性侵犯活动的学术探索有限。目的：本研究由以色列CSA公共调查组织在以色列开展，探讨了作为CSA幸存者的成人活动家如何看待反性侵犯活动，他们认为自己参与的意义，以及他们的童年创伤如何与他们的行动联系起来。方法：本研究采用半结构化访谈，对14名经历过CSA的人进行访谈，这些人主要来自犹太社区。访谈是在2022年进行的，研究采用了归纳主题分析方法。结果：定性分析确定了四个主题：1)反性侵犯行动主义的定义，2)反性侵犯行动主义的目标，3)反性侵犯行动主义的意义，以及4)个人繁荣的由内到外过程。结论：本研究强调了行动主义如何通过赋予CSA幸存者权力、挑战不公正和倡导系统性变革来改变他们的生活。它通过强调行动主义的个人治疗和社会影响的双重作用来促进理解。研究结果表明，政策应将行动主义纳入治疗实践，为幸存者的声音提供平台，并促进社区建设，以支持CSA幸存者并解决系统缺陷。

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来源期刊

Child Abuse & Neglect Multiple-

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

10.40%

发文量

397

期刊介绍： Official Publication of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect The International Journal, provides an international, multidisciplinary forum on all aspects of child abuse and neglect, with special emphasis on prevention and treatment; the scope extends further to all those aspects of life which either favor or hinder child development. While contributions will primarily be from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, medicine, nursing, law enforcement, legislature, education, and anthropology, the Journal encourages the concerned lay individual and child-oriented advocate organizations to contribute.