Child abuse figures are tip of the iceberg

Traumatized adults

Abused children carry their scars into adulthood, Dunne said. In a recent study on the lasting effects of child maltreatment, he surveyed 2,300 people aged 60 to 100 years in Malaysia and Bhutan. Compared with those who suffered little or no abuse, subjects with high levels of child maltreatment had significantly more problems like depression, poor general health, and revictimization. That confirms similar findings by researchers in other countries.

The post-traumatic syndromes may haunt the victims through nightmares, uncontrollable flashbacks and mental replays of the horrendous incidents. Emery said they feel humiliated, powerless and worthless, and they trust no one, leading them to substance abuse, self-harm, and suicidal behavior to cope with the psychological distress. Those unaware of their trauma cannot understand them.

In 1989, Cathy Spatz Widom, at the time a professor of criminal justice and psychology at Indiana University Bloomington, investigated the link between child abuse victims and subsequent neglect, criminality, violence and child abuse in adulthood. She found that abused and neglected children had higher rates of adult criminality, and more arrests for violent offenses than the control group.

For many victims, child abuse was not a discrete event (a sexual abuse encounter, or a severe beating) that could be compartmentalized, Dunne said. The abuse they suffered was chronic and persistent, such as emotional abuse, threats of physical harm, exclusion from family, sexual abuse by multiple people, or initiation into sexualized behavior by a pedophile. "Their mental health, self-image, and sense of control over their life is damaged. It impairs their cognitive and emotional development, leading to distress in adult years," Dunne said.