Monday, October 4, 2010

Survey: Men, Women, and Ritual Abuse

Survivorship Surveys - We are listing the results of two surveys of the membership conducted by Survivorship.
http://www.survivorship.org/resources/articles/surveys.html


Survivorship 1993 Survey: Geographical Location of Abuse
In July 1993, Survivorship conducted a survey of its members. They were asked their diagnosis, the names of the cult/sects/which abused them, and the location of their
abuse. They were also asked if they had moved to escape the abuse and, if so, whether they encountered cult activity in their new location. 506 questionnaires were returned and 919 locations were reported....We have tabulated all locations in which survey responders reported abuse; the results are summarized below.
Abuse was reported in 23 countries and all states except Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. http://www.survivorship.org/resources/articles/Survivorshipgeog.survey.pdf

Survey: Men, Women, and Ritual Abuse
In July, 2003, Survivorship conducted a survey of its members to compare brothers and sisters of survivors across various parameters. The results, which were published in Volume 12 Number 1 of the Survivorship Journal, and the questionnaire are reproduced below....
25 people, all survivors, returned questionnaires. Five were men. These people had 23 brothers and 27 sisters, for a total of 27 men and 48 women (75 in all)....
Survivors ranged in age from 23 to 66, with the average being 42. Brothers ranged from 9 to 64, average 33, and sisters from 12 to 69, average 44. Men were more likely to be married. 78% of them were married (average. 2.0 kids) while 50% of the survivors were married (average 1.2 kids), and 46% of the sisters were married (average 1.6 kids).

The educational level was quite high. Survivors ranged from 7 to 22 years of schooling, with an average of 15.9 years; brothers, 7 to 18 years, average 15.3 years; and sisters 11 to 22, average 15.4. However, all but one of the men (and the two kids) were self-supporting, whereas only 58% of the survivors and 67% of the sisters were.
Survivors were equally likely to be in touch with brothers (41%) and sisters (44%). Of the survivors, only 48% were in touch with their parents versus 89% of the brothers and 89% of the sisters were in touch with their parents.

Everybody was described as abused, except for two sisters (9%). 83% of the survivors said they remembered the abuse, but they thought that only 15% of the brothers and 23% of the sisters did. 75% of the survivors said they were DID and 25% DDNOS, while 54% of the brothers were described as DID and 46% DDNOS, and only one sister was described as DID and six as DDNOS.
Over all, 85% of the brothers, 75% of the sisters, and 61% of the survivors were considered as being in good health. 33% of the brothers, 14% of the sisters, and 16% of the survivors were seen as alcoholic and 20% of the brothers, 14% of the sisters, and 4% of the survivors as drug addicted. Only one person was imprisoned, a female survivor.

Eating disorders were surprisingly high among all three groups: 68% for survivors, 56% for men, and 67% for sisters. A study comparing eating disorder rates among both male and female RA survivors, incest survivors, and controls would be very interesting.
One female survivor reported that she might still be involved. Of the brothers, 77% were thought to be still involved, and of the sisters, 54%....
http://www.survivorship.org/resources/articles/menssurvey.html

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