Showing posts with label childhood sexual abuse. Show all posts

Monday, October 7, 2019

Recovered Memories and Dissociative Amnesia - Scientific Evidence and Accuracy Rates

Recovered Memories

Recovered memories have been defined as the phenomenon of partially or fully losing parts of memories of traumatic events, and then later recovering part or all of the memories into conscious awareness. They have also been defined as the recollections of memories that are believed to have been unavailable for a certain period of time. There is very strong scientific evidence that recovered memories exist.This has been shown in many scientific studies. The content of recovered memories have fairly high corroboration rates.

Scientific evidence

There are many studies that have proven that the recovered memories of traumatic events exist. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond found 43 studies that showed recovered memories for traumatic events. The Recovered Memory Project has collected 101 corroborated cases of recovered memories. Hopper's research shows that amnesia for childhood sexual abuse is "beyond dispute." He states that "at least 10% of people sexually abused in childhood will have periods of complete amnesia for their abuse, followed by experiences of delayed recall" In one study of women with previously documented histories of sexual abuse, 38% of the women did not remember the abuse that had happened 17 years before. Most recovered memories either precede therapy or the use of memory recovery techniques. One studied showed that five out of 19 women with histories of familial sexual abuse either forgot specific details or had "blank periods" for these memories. Another study showed that "40% reported a period of forgetting some or all of the abuse". Herman and Harvey's study showed that 16% of abuse survivors had "complete amnesia followed by delayed recall". Corwin's individual case study provides evidence of the existence of recovered memories on videotape.

Other researchers state:

Research has shown that traumatized individuals respond by using a variety of psychological mechanisms. One of the most common means of dealing with the pain is to try and push it out of awareness. Some label the phenomenon of the process whereby the mind avoids conscious acknowledgment of traumatic experiences as dissociative amnesia. Others use terms such as repression, dissociative state, traumatic amnesia, psychogenic shock, or motivated forgetting. Semantics aside, there is near-universal scientific acceptance of the fact that the mind is capable of avoiding conscious recall of traumatic experiences.
A body of empirical evidence indicates that it is common for abused children to reach adulthood without conscious awareness of the trauma.

There is scientific evidence in support of the phenomena of dissociation and recovered memory in Holocaust survivors.

Corroboration rates

Many studies show high corroboration rates for recovered memories of traumatic events. These rates vary from 50 - 75%, 64%, 77%, 50%, 75%, 68%,47%, and 70% . One study showed amnesia in 12 murderers, with "objective evidence of severe abuse...obtained in 11 cases". There are also additional studies showing the corroboration of recovered memories.

https://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Recovered_Memories

Brown, Scheflin, & Whitfield. (1999). Recovered Memories: The Current Weight of the Evidence in Science and in the Courts Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 27, 5-156. "Brown, Scheflin and Hammond reviewed 43 studies relevant to the subject of traumatic memory and found that every study that examined the question of dissociative amnesia in traumatized populations demonstrated that a substantial minority partially or completely forget the traumatic event experienced, and later recover memories of the event. By 1999, over 68 studies had been published that document dissociative amnesia after childhood sexual abuse. In fact, no study that has looked for evidence of traumatic or dissociative amnesia after child sexual abuse has failed to find it."

http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/prev.html

110 Corroborated Cases of Recovered Memory: http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/case-archive/

Research discussing corroboration and accuracy of recovered memories https://pages.uoregon.edu/dynamic/jjf/suggestedrefs.html

Recall of childhood trauma: a prospective study of women's memories of child sexual abuse.

One hundred twenty-nine women with previously documented histories of sexual victimization in childhood were interviewed and asked detailed questions about their abuse histories to answer the question "Do people actually forget traumatic events such as child sexual abuse, and if so, how common is such forgetting?" A large proportion of the women (38%) did not recall the abuse that had been reported 17 years earlier. Women who were younger at the time of the abuse and those who were molested by someone they knew were more likely to have no recall of the abuse. The implications for research and practice are discussed. Long periods with no memory of abuse should not be regarded as evidence that the abuse did not occur.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7860814

Research on the Effect of Trauma on Memory

Research has shown that traumatized individuals respond by using a variety of psychological mechanisms. One of the most common means of dealing with the pain is to try and push it out of awareness. Some label the phenomenon of the process whereby the mind avoids conscious acknowledgment of traumatic experiences as dissociative amnesia . Others use terms such as repression , dissociative state , traumatic amnesia, psychogenic shock, or motivated forgetting . Semantics aside, there is near-universal scientific acceptance of the fact that the mind is capable of avoiding conscious recall of traumatic experiences. http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/tm.html

Memory disturbances and dissociative amnesia in Holocaust survivors

The following articles provide compelling scientific evidence in support of the phenomena of dissociation and recovered memory in Holocaust survivors. In addition to supporting the phenomenon in general, these articles also counter the argument that recovered memory is (a) no more than a recent cultural “fad” and (b) specific to false accusers of sexual abuse. http://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/scholarly-resources/holocaust/

Dissociation & the Fragmentary Nature of Traumatic Memories: Overview & Exploratory Study

"a systematic exploratory study of 46 subjects with PTSD which indicates that traumatic memories are retrieved, at least initially, in the form of dissociated mental imprints of sensory and affective elements of the traumatic experience: as visual, olfactory, affective, auditory and kinesthetic experiences. Over time, subjects reported the gradual emergence of a personal narrative that some believe can be properly referred to as “explicit memory”....Of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma, 15 (43%) had suffered significant, or total amnesia for their trauma at some time of their lives. Twenty seven of the 35 subjects with childhood trauma (77%) reported confirmation of their childhood trauma."http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk2.php

Kluft, RP (1995). The confirmation and disconfirmation of memories of abuse in Dissociative Identity Disorder patients: A naturalistic study. Dissociation 8: 253-8. "Nineteen, or 56%, had instances of the confirmation of recalled abuses. Ten of the 19, or 53%, had always recalled the abuses that were confirmed. However, 13 of the 19, or 68%, obtained documentation of events that were recovered in the course of therapy, usually with the use of hypnosis. Three patients, or 9%, had instances in which the inaccuracy of their recollection could be demonstrated."

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1155/Diss_8_4_9_OCR_rev.pdf

Leadership Council Amicus Brief Appellant on Appeal from a Judgment of the Superior Court Brief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court SJC No. 10382 AC No. 2007-p-0886 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Appellee V. Paul Shanley, Leadership Council as Amicus Curiae

http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/docs/ShanleyBrief.pdf

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Information on Neil Brick and his research

Information on Neil Brick

In 1995, Neil Brick founded the SMART newsletter. In 1996, SMART was on the Internet and in 1998 SMART started having ritual abuse conferences.

There are now 133 newsletters online at https://ritualabuse.us/newsletter/

with many conferences with online transcripts and ordering information
https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/

Articles by Neil Brick
http://neilbrick.com

http://neilbrick.blogspot.com

https://ritualabuse.us/smart/neil-brick/

https://independent.academia.edu/neilbrick

https://plus.google.com/+stopritualabusetoday

Neil Brick has worked hard to build a research base for child abuse and ritual abuse survivors. He has worked to develop advocacy efforts to help survivors and their helpers.

Neil Brick has always been a strong advocate for people thinking for themselves. He has encouraged people to use their critical thinking skills and fully research topics. In one presentation, he stated :

“Please use your own judgment and try to research everything as fully as possible. Don’t accept anything anyone says simply because they say it or claim to be an expert or whatever. Try to check it out for yourself.”

There are online articles with inaccurate information about Neil Brick. Some of the articles below correct factual errors about Neil Brick and his work. Those interested in contacting Neil for an interview can write smartnews @aol.com (delete space before @) for more information.

Several of Neil Brick’s articles (listed below) provide readers information on how to avoid being mind controlled and encourage readers to find out for themselves about topics from as many sources as possible.

Neil Brick’s conference presentation transcripts:

The Battle to Stop Ritual Abuse https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2015-conference/the-battle-to-stop-ritual-abuse/

Doing the right thing and getting stronger at the same time, a survivor’s path to recovery and helping others by Neil Brick https://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/2014-conference/doing-the-right-thing-and-getting-stronger-at-the-same-time-a-survivors-path-to-recovery-and-helping-others/

Video on youtube –
Proof ritual abuse and Satanic ritual abuse exists by Neil Brick http://www.youtube.com/user/stopritualabuse

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Bill Cosby sued by model over alleged sexual assault, Judge won't dismiss woman's molestation suit against Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby sued by model over alleged sexual assault
7 October 2015

A 25-year-old model has sued US comedian Bill Cosby, alleging he sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 2008.

Chloe Goins claims Mr Cosby drugged and molested her when she was 17.

The civil lawsuit accuses Mr Cosby of "childhood sexual abuse" and demands damages of at least $75,000 (£49,000). Ms Goins is also seeking a jury trial.

Mr Cosby, 78, is facing a series of sexual assault accusations dating back decades. He has denied the claims.

The star is due to testify on Friday in a separate lawsuit brought by Judy Huth, who accused the comedian of sexually abusing her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when she was 15 years old.

More than 50 women have come forward publicly over the past year with allegations including drugging, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape - all of which Mr Cosby denies.

In most cases, the alleged incidents date back decades, meaning they fall outside the time limit for legal action.

But Ms Goins' allegations do fall within California's statute of limitations, and prosecutors are also now reviewing the evidence for possible criminal charges.

The model told reporters: "Today I recognise that I've taken legal action that many of the other victims of Bill Cosby will never be able to take. This has gone on long enough, it's time Bill Cosby was held accountable for his crimes."....
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34463079

Judge won't dismiss woman's molestation suit against Bill Cosby
AP October 7, 2015

A judge on Wednesday refused to throw out a lawsuit filed by a woman who accuses Bill Cosby of molesting her when she was 15, saying the comedian can still receive a fair trial despite procedural errors.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan's ruling came over the objections of Cosby's attorneys, who sought to dismiss Judy Huth's case because her previous attorney violated rules for how older sex-abuse cases should be handled.

Cosby's attorney Martin Singer argued the lawsuit improperly included Cosby's name, which caused the comedian harm and required him to defend himself against numerous other allegations from women who claim he abused them decades ago.

"This was the linchpin that triggered everything going forward," Singer said.

Huth's former attorney admitted Wednesday he erred by naming Cosby in the lawsuit filed in December 2014. Huth, 57, claims Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him at the Playboy Mansion around 1974....

Karlan said in his ruling that he was troubled by the mistake by Huth's previous lawyer, but despite that he felt Cosby could still get a fair trial. He also noted Cosby's name would have eventually been disclosed in Huth's case and received widespread notoriety.

Huth's former attorney, Marc Strecker, acknowledged he overlooked a portion of the legal code that states claims by adult plaintiffs that they were victims of underage sexual abuse should omit the defendant's real name. "I made a mistake," Strecker said....
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-wont-dismiss-womans-molestation-suit-against-bill-cosby/

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

False Memory Syndrome: A False Construct

False Memory Syndrome: A False Construct

Research

The term False Memory Syndrome was created in 1992. Research has shown that most delayed memories of childhood abuse are true. In general, it has been shown that false allegations of childhood sexual abuse are rare, with some studies showing rates as low as one percent and some studies showing slightly higher rates. It has been found that children tend to understate rather than overstate the extent of any abuse experienced. http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=False_Memory_Syndrome
http://goo.gl/t1oTue

Dallam, S. J. (2002). Crisis or Creation: A systematic examination of false memory claims. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse,9 (3/4), 9-36. "A review of the relevant literature demonstrates that the existence of such a syndrome lacks general acceptance in the mental health field, and that the construct is based on a series of faulty assumptions, many of which have been scientifically disproven. There is a similar lack of empirical validation for claims of a "false memory" epidemic." http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/6.html

Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims about the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic
Kenneth S. Pope http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php

False Memory Syndrome Facts Website http://fmsf.com/media.html

Memory & FMS https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/

Recovered Memory Data https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/recovered-memory-data/

Hall, J., Kondora, L. (2005) “True” and “False” Child Sexual Abuse Memories and Casey’s Phenomenological View of Remembering American Behavioral Scientist, 48, 10 p. 1339-1359 DOI: 10.1177/0002764205277012 "The notion of false accusation is often raised in cases where physical evidence is not available and a period of time has passed or when there has been a delay in recall of the events by a survivor of child sexual abuse. This is not to imply that false memories are not possible. This article outlines how rare they must be, however, based on historical factors and a phenomenological analysis of memory itself....Most scientists investigating traumatic memory doubt that memories of abuse could be planted."
http://abs.sagepub.com/content/48/10/1339.full.pdf+html

"The hypothesis that false memories can easily be implanted in psychotherapy...seriously overstates the available data. Since no studies have been conducted on suggested effects in psychotherapy per se, the idea of iatrogenic suggestion of false memories remains an untested hypothesis. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998).” Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law” (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5

False Memory Syndrome : A False Construct by Juliette Cutler Page “The concept of “recovered memory”, that is, memory of a traumatic event that had been forgotten for some period of time, has been variously explained by such mechanisms as repression, amnesia, and dissociation. However, there are over 100 years of reports and descriptions of recovered memory in the literature, including instances from times of war, torture, bereavement, natural disasters, and concentration camp imprisonment. (HOROWITZ) Many corroborated cases have been documented in instances of recovered memory of sexual abuse…”

Legal Information

Ground Lost: The False Memory/Recovered Memory Therapy Debate, by Alan Scheflin, Psychiatric Times 11/99, Vol. XVI Issue 11, “The appearance in the DSM-IV indicates that the concept of repressed memory is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community. This satisfies courts following the Frye v United States, 293 F.1013 (1923) or Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, 113 S. Ct. 2786 (1993) rules regarding the admissibility of scientific testimony into evidence in court.” And “Although the science is limited on this issue, the only three relevant studies conclude that repressed memories are no more and no less accurate than continuous memories (Dalenberg, 1996; Widom and Morris, 1997; Williams, 1995). Thus, courts and therapists should consider repressed memories no differently than they consider ordinary memories.” At http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p991137.html

The "False Memory" Defense: Using Disinformation and Junk Science in and out of Court
Charles L. Whitfield, M.D., F.A.S.A.M. "This article describes a seemingly sophisticated, but mostly contrived and often erroneous "false memory" defense, and compares it in a brief review to what the science says about the effect of trauma on memory. Child sexual abuse is widespread and dissociative/traumatic amnesia for it is common." http://web.archive.org/web/20070914163211/http://childabuse.georgiacenter.uga.edu/both/whitfield/whitfield1.phtml

Commonwealth vs. Paul Shanley.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, decided Jan. 15, 2010
The Leadership Council submitted an amicus brief in to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court advising the court on scientific knowledge regarding dissociative memory loss. On February 7, 2005, Paul Shanley was convicted of sexually abusing a child. The abuse occurred between 1983 and 1989 when the victim was attending classes at the church where the defendant served as a Catholic priest. Shanley appealed his conviction saying that it was based on recovered memory. His defense team contended that “…'repressed memory' is a pernicious, unreliable, junk science notion without scientific verification.”

The LC submitted a brief explaining why this position regarding scientific acceptance of dissociative memory loss is inaccurate, and why the Court's determination that testimony on dissociative memory loss and recovery is admissible was correct. The Court affirmed the conviction and held that " the judge's finding that the lack of scientific testing did not make unreliable the theory that an individual may experience dissociative amnesia was supported in the record, not only by expert testimony but by a wide collection of clinical observations and a survey of academic literature."
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/docs/ShanleyBrief.pdf

Silencing the Victim: The Politics of Discrediting Child Abuse Survivors
As a victim of child abuse who proved my claims in a landmark civil suit, there have been many attempts to silence and discredit me. This article provides an overview of my court case and its effects.
DOI: 10.1207/s15327019eb0802_3 Jennifer Hoult pages 125-140
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a918444285
http://www.fmsf.com/ethics.shtml

Ralph Underwager...Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Anna Salter, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees., 22 F.3d 730 (7th Cir. 1994) http://vlex.com/vid/36092881

Media and Information

Originally published in Moving Forward, Volume 3, No. 3, pp 1, 12-21, 1995. The Highly Misleading Truth and Responsibility in Mental Health Practices Act: The “False Memory” Movement’s Remedy for a Nonexistent Problem by Judith M. Simon “Over the past few years, the “false memory” movement has manifested primarily as a media presence that discounts sexual abuse survivors as first-hand witnesses to their own experiences.” http://web.archive.org/web/20050906011329/http://members.aol.com/conch8/antiTRMP1.html

False memory syndrome proponents tactics – False memory syndrome proponents have done the following to try and ensure that only their point of view is in the public view. Harassing debate opponents, misrepresenting the data in the field and controlling the media.
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/false-memory-syndrome-proponents-tactics/

U-Turn on Memory Lane by Mike Stanton – Columbia Journalism Review – July/August 1997
“Rarely has such a strange and little-understood organization had such a profound effect on media coverage of such a controversial matter." http://web.archive.org/web/20071216011151/http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/97/4/memory.asp

Confessions of a Whistle-Blower: Lessons Learned Author: Anna C. Salter DOI: 10.1207/s15327019eb0802_2 Ethics & Behavior, Volume 8, Issue 2 June 1998 , pages 115 – 124
http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/confessions-of-a-whistle-blower-lessons-learned/

Calof, D.L. (1998). Notes from a practice under siege: Harassment, defamation, and intimidation in the name of science, Ethics and Behavior, 8(2) pp. 161-187. http://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/notes-from-a-practice-under-siege/
http://goo.gl/vvNq6f

Battle Tactics
http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/historymatters/papers/NoelPackard.pdf

Disinformation and DID: the Politics of Memory Brian Moss, MA, MFT
https://ritualabuse.us/research/did/disinformation-and-did-the-politics-of-memory

Thursday, July 3, 2014

One third of adults with dyslexia report they were physically abused during their childhood, The Impact of Sexual Abuse Committed by a Child on Mental Health in Adulthood

One third of adults with dyslexia report they were physically abused during their childhood 7/3/14
TORONTO, ON – Adults who have dyslexia are much more likely to report they were physically abused before they turned 18 than their peers without dyslexia, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.

Thirty-five per cent of adults with dyslexia report they were physically abused before they turned 18. In contrast, seven per cent of those without dyslexia reported that they had experienced childhood physical abuse.

“Even after accounting for age, race, sex and other early adversities such as parental addictions, childhood physical abuse was still associated with a six-fold increase in the odds of dyslexia” says co-author Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor and Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair at University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.... http://www.healthcanal.com/child-health/52706-one-third-of-adults-with-dyslexia-report-they-were-physically-abused-during-their-childhood.html

The Impact of Sexual Abuse Committed by a Child on Mental Health in Adulthood
Brian Allen, Alexandra Tellez, Amy Wevodau, Carol L. Woods, Amy Percosky
J Interpers Violence August 2014 vol. 29 no. 12 2257-2272
Abstract
Numerous research studies document the negative mental health outcomes associated with the experience of childhood sexual abuse. In addition, factors such as one’s relationship with the perpetrator and the severity of the abuse predict the likelihood of future mental health problems. Less attention, however, has focused on the age of the perpetrator, and recent years have seen an increased interest in children who display sexual behavior problems. College students completed measures of mental health functioning and retrospective reports of maltreatment histories. Participants were categorized as abused by an adult (n = 48), teenager (n = 39), or another child (n = 37), and non-abused (n = 219). Victims of abuse, regardless of perpetrator age, displayed higher levels of mental health problems than non-abused participants. There were no differences between the abused groups on any of the mental health outcomes; however, individuals who were abused by other children were less likely to label their experiences as abuse. http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/29/12/2257.abstract
.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Pamela Anderson reveals childhood sexual abuse, Black Magic Rituals, Minnesota cult leader called the girls 'brides of Christ' and he was 'Christ'

- Former fireman Albert Hickman, 64, is accused of raping a Bridgend schoolgirl more than 40 years ago - black magic rituals
- Minnesota cult leader called the girls 'brides of Christ' and he was 'Christ'
- Pamela Anderson reveals childhood sexual abuse, launches charity

'If I wanted to pin anybody down on the floor I don’t need the help of another person,' rape accused tells court
May 19, 2014 By Liz Keen
Former fireman Albert Hickman, 64, is accused of raping a Bridgend schoolgirl more than 40 years ago

A man accused of raping a Bridgend schoolgirl while his ‘black magic’ wife held her down told a jury he would not have needed any help to assault a child.

Former “fit” fireman and RAF mechanic Albert Hickman said the allegation, dating back 40 years, when there were allegedly books on witchcraft as well as pornography at his home, was not true....

Hickman, now 64, admitted being jailed for 10 years in the 1980s for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Shropshire but said while he was stationed at RAF St Athan and attending Salvation Army meetings with his wife several years before he did no such thing.

The alleged victim, now 52, has told the jury she would ‘mitch off’ school and go to the Hickmans’ house after being befriended by his wife Carolee, who herself has admitted holding down another girl for a man to have sex with her during a black magic ritual.

The woman has accused Mrs Hickman of kissing and touching her over a period of time, frightening her into submission with witchcraft, before helping her husband commit rape....

He said he was never involved in black magic rituals himself and if ceremonies did take place at any of their homes he was unaware of it....

The couple were divorced while he served his sentence for abuse and his wife was serving a five-year term but later remarried - after she had had a second husband....
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/rape-accused-albert-hickman-says-7142685

Minnesota cult leader called the girls 'brides of Christ' - and he was 'Christ' By Karl Kahler Special to the Pioneer Press 05/19/2014

Lindsay Tornambe was just 13 when her parents dropped her off at a Christian camp in Pine County, Minn., where a charismatic cult leader had summoned her to be one of his 10 "Maidens" -- virgins who were to be "sacrificed to God" by being married to Christ.

"He started explaining that having sex with me was his way of showing me God's love, and that because he was Christ in the flesh, I could still remain a virgin even though I had sex with him," she said.

Now 27, Tornambe says she endured nine years of sexual abuse by Victor Barnard, 52, the head of a secretive cult who is believed to be hiding with followers in the state of Washington after he was charged last month in Minnesota with 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct -- chiefly charges of child rape.

I remember Barnard well, as I went to Bible college with him in Kansas in the 1980s, when we were both members of The Way International, a notorious Christian cult based in Ohio. In fact, I recognize the playbook he is alleged to have used to justify the sexual abuse of trusting followers, because he would have learned it from our former masters in The Way....

Karl Kahler is national editor of the San Jose Mercury News and author of "The Cult That Snapped: A Journey Into The Way International."
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25783953/victor-barnard-called-girls-brides-christ-and-he

Pamela Anderson reveals childhood sexual abuse, launches charity
The "Baywatch" star turned animal and environmental activist says she was sexually abused as a child and as a teen. Pamela Anderson made the revelations at a Cannes Film Festival event, where she launched her namesake foundation.
Christie D'Zurilla

Pamela Anderson has revealed a history of sexual assault, ticking off instances of molestation, rape and gang rape. Her revelations occurred at a charity event held on a luxury yacht at the Cannes Film Festival.

The "Baywatch" star and activist, 46, chose the occasion, which she co-hosted with Vivienne Westwood, to launch the Pamela Anderson Foundation, dedicated to "human, animal and environmental rights."....

"I did not have an easy childhood," Anderson said. "Despite loving parents, I was molested from age 6 to 10 by my female babysitter."....

"I went to a friend's boyfriend's house," she continued. "While she was busy, the boyfriend's older brother decided he would teach me backgammon, which led into a back massage, which led into rape -- my first heterosexual experience. He was 25 years old, I was 12."....

"My first boyfriend in grade 9 decided it would be funny to gang rape me, with six of his friends. Needless to say, I had a hard time trusting humans. I just wanted off this Earth."

Anderson said she couldn't tell her mother, whom she saw as already carrying too heavy of a burden, but instead turned toward animals and nature....

She told the Cannes audience that since finding her "voice" after "Baywatch," she'd helped change animal-welfare laws in more than 20 countries.

"I've spoken to press, parliament, presidents, kings, queens ... I know what I'm good at: I'm brilliant at connecting people -- communicating."

She also thanked Rick Salomon, her third and fourth husband, for his support, calling him the "only man" she trusts, other than her sons.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-pamela-anderson-sexual-abuse-rape-20140519-story.html

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Clergy Abuse Victims Criticize Cardinal Dolan's Lobbying Efforts In Albany, Archdiocese must make priest abuse files public, judge rules, Clergy Abuse Documentary ‘BASTA’ to Premier at Boston International Film Festival on Easter Sunday

"This is a global epidemic which needs, and deserves, global awareness. There are 60 million adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse living in the United States alone. Survivors need to know that they are not alone and above all, there is always hope."

Clergy Abuse Victims Criticize Cardinal Dolan's Lobbying Efforts In Albany BY Glenn Blain March 19, 2014

Victims of clergy sex abuse are criticizing Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s efforts to boost charitable donations to schools.

Mary Caplan, co-director of the New York City chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, issued a statement Wednesday blasting Dolan for lobbying Albany lawmakers this week to approve tax credits for those who donate to schools or other education-related groups.

“When they want money for their institutions, Catholic officials lobby hard and say they care deeply about kids,” Caplan said. “But when kids who were abused want a chance for justice, Catholic officials lobby hard to deny those kids their day in court. All across the US, Dolan and his brother bishops use all their political will and power and resources to block moves to reform archaic, predator-friendly statute of limitations laws that endanger kids and protect those who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2014/03/clergy-abuse-victims-criticize-cardinal-dolans-lobbying-efforts-in-albany

Archdiocese must make priest abuse files public, judge rules
JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune March 19, 2014

Judge tells the Twin Cities archdiocese to release all info about those credibly accused of sex abuse from 1970 to 1985.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis must reveal hundreds of pages of information on priests accused of sexually abusing children, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Ramsey County District Judge John Van de North rejected church efforts to keep most of the documents under court seal, ordering that all information on priests who were “credibly accused” of abuse between 1970 and 1985 be filed with the court by March 31.

Information on priests whom the church determined were not “credibly” accused will remain sealed, Van de North ruled....
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/250859931.html

Clergy Abuse Documentary ‘BASTA’ to Premier at Boston International Film Festival on Easter Sunday
Merrimack Valley Production has announced that BASTA - No pity - No shame - No silence- has been selected to premiere at the Boston International Film Festival on Easter Sunday April 20th at Loews Theatre/AMC Boston Common on Tremont Street.

"This is a global epidemic which needs, and deserves, global awareness. There are 60 million adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse living in the United States alone. Survivors need to know that they are not alone and above all, there is always hope."

Boston Massachusetts (PRWEB) March 18, 2014

BASTA, a film documenting the emotional journey taken by simple men detailing their attempts to reach into the Vatican walls in search of help, hope and aid in healing a nation reeling from the effects of the clergy abuse crisis, will premiere at the Boston International Film Festival on Sunday, April 20th.

Attempting to battle the cover-up, shame and silence of clergy sexual abuse, three survivors from Boston Massachusetts, travel to Rome reaching behind the secret walls of The Vatican. Their weeklong effort becomes a decade long mission that exposes mind blowing statistics and unexpected worldwide results.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/03/prweb11674500.htm

Basta is a film documenting the story of the emotional journey taken by simple men detailing their attempts to reach behind and beyond the Vatican walls in search of help, hope and aid in healing a nation reeling from the effects of the clergy abuse scandal.
A decade after starting on a personal journey for justice, one man finds that success isn't always defined by achieving his goal, sometimes, it's defined by the attempt itself. And sometimes, in that attempt, you also find out who you are.
http://www.bastathemovie.com/About_The_Film.html

Monday, October 21, 2013

Corey Feldman's 'Coreyography' Details Sexual Abuse He, Corey Haim Faced, Long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse by gender of victim

Corey Feldman's 'Coreyography' Details Sexual Abuse He, Corey Haim Faced The Huffington Post By Cavan Sieczkowski 10/21/2013

In his new memoir, Coreyography, Corey Feldman details the sexual abuse he and fellow child star Corey Haim endured in Hollywood at the hands of men they worked with and considered friends. Due out Oct. 28, the book also describes years of drug abuse both he and Haim faced.

On the 1986 set of "Lucas," Haim told Feldman that “an adult male convinced him that it was perfectly normal for older men and younger boys in the business to have sexual relations, that it was what all the guys do. So they walked off to a secluded area between two trailers ... and Haim allowed himself to be sodomized," Feldman wrote, per an excerpt obtained by Page Six.

After relaying the incident to Feldman, Haim asked, “So, I guess we should play around like that, too?” Feldman dismissed him, saying, that's “not what kids do, man." But Feldman went on to suffer abuse himself, specifically by a man named "Ron," whom his father hired as his assistant. Ron allegedly took advantage of him after turning him onto drugs.

Both Haim and Feldman battled substance abuse issues for years. Feldman, now 42, reached a breaking point when he was arrested for heroin in 1990 at 19 years old. After two more drug arrests, he got sober. Haim was in and out of rehab for addiction 15 times before his death in 2010.

“Corey was raped at the age of 11,” Feldman writes, via the New York Daily News, “and like many, many victims, drug use became an easy, if also tragic, way for him to escape the weight of that shame.”....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/21/corey-feldman-sexual-abuse_n_4136524.html

Long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse by gender of victim. Dube SR, Anda RF, Whitfield CL, Brown DW, Felitti VJ, Dong M, Giles WH. Am J Prev Med. 2005 Jun;28(5):430-8.

Source
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3724, USA.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide problem. Although most studies on the long-term consequences of CSA have focused on women, sexual abuse of both boys and girls is common....

METHODS:
A retrospective cohort study was conducted from 1995 to 1997 among 17,337 adult HMO members in San Diego, California....

RESULTS:
Contact CSA was reported by 16% of males and 25% of females. Men reported female perpetration of CSA nearly 40% of the time, and women reported female perpetration of CSA 6% of the time. CSA significantly increased the risk of the outcomes. The magnitude of the increase was similar for men and women. For example, compared to reporting no sexual abuse, a history of suicide attempt was more than twice as likely among both men and women who experienced CSA....

CONCLUSIONS:
In this cohort of adult HMO members, experiencing CSA was common among both men and women....These findings strongly indicate that boys and girls are vulnerable to this form of childhood maltreatment...
PMID: 15894146
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15894146

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Epidemiology of Dissociative Disorders: An Overview

Epidemiology of Dissociative Disorders: An Overview

Vedat Sar - Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 2011

General psychiatric assessment instruments do not cover DSM-IV dissociative disorders. Many large-scale epidemiological studies led to biased results due to this deficit in their methodology. Nevertheless, screening studies using diagnostic tools designed to assess dissociative disorders yielded lifetime prevalence rates around 10% in clinical populations and in the community. Special populations such as psychiatric emergency ward applicants, drug addicts, and women in prostitution demonstrated the highest rates. Data derived from epidemiological studies also support clinical findings about the relationship between childhood adverse experiences and dissociative disorders. Thus, dissociative disorders constitute a hidden and neglected public health problem. Better and early recognition of dissociative disorders would increase awareness about childhood traumata in the community and support prevention of them alongside their clinical consequences.

http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/eri/2011/404538.pdf

excerpts:

"Most of the published clinical case series are focused on chronic and complex forms of dissociative disorders.

Data collected in diverse geographic locations such as North America [2], Puerto Rico [3], Western Europe [4], Turkey [5], and Australia [6] underline the consistency in clinical symptoms of dissociative disorders. These clinical case series have also documented that dissociative patients report highest frequencies of childhood psychological trauma among all psychiatric disorders. Childhood sexual (57.1%–90.2%), emotional (57.1%), and physical (62.9%–82.4%) abuse and neglect (62.9%) are among them (2–6)."

"Several studies conducted on consecutive series of inpatients and outpatients in general psychiatric settings in diverse countries yielded results depending on the hinterland of the particular institution (Table 1).

Two studies in North America demonstrated that 13.0–20.7 % of psychiatric inpatients had a dissociative disorder [22, 23]. Studies on dissociative disorders in Istanbul, Turkey, yielded a prevalence slightly above 10% among psychiatric inpatients and outpatients [8, 24, 25]. Although still considerable, these rates were lower in the Netherlands [26], Germany [18], and Switzerland [27] among inpatients, that is, between 4.3%–8.0%. A Finnish study [28] reported higher rates for psychiatric outpatients (14.0%) and inpatients (21.0%).

Emergency admissions of a university psychiatric clinic in Istanbul, Turkey yielded the highest rate in the country: 35.7% [29]. In a study from Zurich, Switzerland, among severely impaired psychiatric outpatients, prevalence of all dissociative disorders were 25.0% [30]. Two recent studies on inpatient and outpatient psychiatric units in North America reported higher rates than those of the previous studies [31, 32]."

Thursday, March 29, 2012

R.A. Dickey book: Childhood sexual abuse revealed in memoir by NY Mets pitcher

R.A. Dickey book: Childhood sexual abuse revealed in memoir with Daily News’ Wayne Coffey; NY Mets pitcher thought about suicide

Dickey says he got through painful times with 'strength, honesty and love'

By Andy Martino NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, March 28, 2012

PORT ST. LUCIE — Four hours after telling the world what he was once unable to share with his wife, R.A. Dickey stood in the Mets clubhouse Tuesday, detailing the impact of sexual abuse on his life, and the hope that his own history will help other victims make peace with theirs.

In a raw, new memoir, excerpted Tuesday in Sports Illustrated and detailed in the Daily News, Dickey reveals that he was abused as an 8-year-old, and later lived with so much anger and shame that he contemplated suicide as recently as 2006....

Entitled “Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball” (Penguin/Blue Rider Press) and written with the Daily News’ Wayne Coffey, the book is excerpted in this week’s Sports Illustrated and in the Daily News on Thursday.

The book chronicles Dickey’s 14-year odyssey through the minor leagues, his entry into the majors, including finding a used syringe in the Texas Rangers clubhouse, and his late conversion to the knuckleball, but the biggest revelations center on a troubled Tennessee childhood.

Dickey writes about closing Nashville bars with his mother at age 5, sleeping in abandoned houses as a teen, swimming with alligators and turning to sports in an effort to mitigate the pain brought on by the sexual abuse.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/a-dickey-book-childhood-sexual-abuse-revealed-memoir-news-wayne-coffey-ny-mets-pitcher-thought-suicide-article-1.1051163

R.A. Dickey writes of confronting darker sides of human nature
By R.A. Dickey with Wayne Coffey Tuesday March 27, 2012
From WHEREVER I WIND UP: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball, by R.A. Dickey with Wayne Coffey, published by arrangement with Blue Rider Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright 2012 by R.A. Dickey. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/03/26/dickey.excerpt/index.html

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Prevalence of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Timing of Disclosure

Prevalence of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Timing of Disclosure in a Representative Sample of Adults From Quebec - Martine Hébert, PhD; Marc Tourigny, PhD; Mireille Cyr, PhD; Pierre McDuff, MS; Jacques Joly, PhD
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 54, No 9, September 2009
Objective: Our study sought to explore patterns of disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA) in a sample of adult men and women.

Method: A telephone survey conducted with a representative sample of adults (n = 804) from Quebec assessed the prevalence of CSA and disclosure patterns. Analyses were carried out to determine whether disclosure groups differed in terms of psychological distress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and a logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with prompt disclosure. Results: Prevalence of CSA was 22.1% for women and 9.7% for men. About 1 survivor out of 5 had never disclosed the abuse, with men more likely not to have told anyone, than women. Only 21.2% of adults reported prompt disclosure (within a month of the first abusive event), while 57.5% delayed disclosure (more than 5 years after the first episode).

CSA victims who never disclosed the abuse and those who delayed disclosure were more likely to obtain scores of psychological distress and posttraumatic stress achieving clinical levels, compared with adults without a history of CSA. In the multivariate analysis, experiencing CSA involving a perpetrator outside the immediate family and being female were factors independently associated with prompt disclosure. Conclusion: A significant number of adult women and men reported experiencing CSA, and most victims attested to either not disclosing or significantly delaying abuse disclosure.
Can J Psychiatry. 2009;54(9):631–636.
http://publications.cpa-apc.org/media.php?mid=840&xwm=true

Stop Child Abuse

Monday, October 7, 2019