HEAR OUR VOICES

It is estimated that one in ten children will experience sexual abuse by their 18^th birthday. Unfortunately, in previous decades the rates of abuse were even higher. Therefore it is not uncommon for child abuse victims receiving our services to have parents or caregivers who themselves are survivors of child sexual abuse. This creates an additional level of distress for the family unit who is working to heal from trauma.

When assessing a child abuse victim’s needs, our clinical team saw a pattern of caregivers who themselves were survivors of sexual abuse and never told anyone or did not receive the needed support when they did disclose their abuse.

In the summer of 2017, Alliance For Children implemented the Hear Our Voices group counseling program. This program seeks to support caregivers of sexual abuse victims who experienced their own sexual abuse as children. The goal of this group is to facilitate healing and empower caregivers to support their child while working through their own trauma.

When a child experiences sexual abuse, this not only impacts the child but the entire family unit. Often times, caregivers feel guilt and shame that they were unable to protect their child and experience their own anger and negative emotions regarding the victimization of a family member. For adult survivors of sexual abuse, there is an additional level of trauma as the abuse of their child triggers emotions and memories from their own past abuse experiences.

The Hear Our Voices program seeks to mitigate these painful dynamics by equipping caregivers with practical skills to work through their own trauma so that they can fully support their child's healing journey.

To learn more about Alliance For Children's services visit https://www.allianceforchildren.org/what-we-do

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