Dissociative identity disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD)

copied with permission

Dissociative identity disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is defined in the DSM-IV-TR as the presence of two or more personality states or distinct identities that repeatedly take control of one’s behavior. The patient has an inability to recall personal information. The extent of this lack of recall is too great to be explained by normal forgetfulness. The disorder cannot be due to the direct physical effects of a general medical condition or substance.[1]

DID entails a failure to integrate certain aspects of memory, consciousness and identity. Patients experience frequent gaps in their memory for their personal history, past and present. Patients with DID report having severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. The reports of patients with DID are often validated by objective evidence.[1]

Physical evidence may include variations in physiological functions in different identity states, including differences in vision, levels of pain tolerance, symptoms of asthma, the response of blood glucose to insulin and sensitivity to allergens. Other physical findings may include scars from physical abuse or self-inflicted injuries, headaches or migraines, asthma and irritable bowel syndrome.[1]

DID is found in a variety of cultures around the world. It is diagnosed three to nine times more often in adult females than males. Females average 15 or more identities, males eight identities. The sharp rise in the reported cases of DID in the U.S. may be due the greater awareness of DID’s diagnosis, which has caused an increased identification of those that were previously undiagnosed.[1]

The average time period from DID’s first presentation of symptoms to its diagnosis is six to seven years. DID may become less manifest as patients reach past their late 40’s, but it can reemerge during stress, trauma or substance abuse. It is suggested in several studies that DID is more likely to occur with first-degree biological relatives of people that already have DID, than in the regular population.[1]

Symptomatology

Individuals diagnosed with DID demonstrate a variety of symptoms with wide fluctuations across time; functioning can vary from severe impairment in daily functioning to normal or high abilities.[2]

Patients may experience an extremely broad array of other symptoms that resemble epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, and eating disorders.[2]

Causes

The causes of dissociative identity disorder are theoretically linked with the interaction of overwhelming stress, traumatic antecedents,[3] insufficient childhood nurturing, and an innate ability to dissociate memories or experiences from consciousness.[2] Prolonged child abuse is frequently a factor, with a very high percentage of patients reporting documented abuse[4] often confirmed by objective evidence.[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that patients with DID often report having a history of severe physical and sexual abuse. The reports of patients suffering from DID are "often confirmed by objective evidence," and the DSM notes that the abusers in those situations may be inclined to "deny or distort” these acts.[1] Research has consistently shown that DID is characterized by reports of extensive childhood trauma, usually child abuse.[5][6][7] Dissociation is recognized as a symptomatic presentation in response to psychological trauma, extreme emotional stress, and in association with emotional dysregulation and borderline personality disorder.[8] A study of 12 murderers established the connection between early severe abuse and DID[9].


DSM inclusion

DID meets all of the guidelines for inclusion in the DSM and is supported by taxometric research.[10] Research has established DID as a valid diagnosis.[10] In one study, DID was found to be a genuine disorder with a constant set of core features.[11]


History

The 19th century saw a number of reported cases of multiple personalities which Rieber estimated would be close to 100.[12]

By the late 19th century there was a general realization that emotionally traumatic experiences could cause long-term disorders which may manifest with a variety of symptoms.[13] Between 1880 and 1920, many great international medical conferences devoted a lot of time to sessions on dissociation.[14]

Starting in about 1927, there was a large increase in the number of reported cases of schizophrenia, which was matched by an equally large decrease in the number of multiple personality reports.[14] Bleuler also included multiple personality in his category of schizophrenia. It was found in the 1980s that MPD patients are often misdiagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia.[14] Multiple personality disorder began to emerge as a separate disorder in the 1970s when an initially small number of clinicians worked to re-establish MPD as a legitimate diagnosis.[14]


Physiological Evidence

Physiological evidence has provided additional evidence to back the existence of DID. One review of the literature found "physiologic and ocular differences across alter personalities." [15]. Additional studies have been found showing optical differences in DID cases.[16][17] One study found that "eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically distinct alter personality states."[18]. Other reviews have found additional physiological differences[19]. Brain mapping has also found physiological differences in alternate personalities[20]. A variety of psychiatric rating scales found that multiple personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction[21].

DID entails a failure to integrate certain aspects of memory, consciousness and identity. Patients experience frequent gaps in their memory for their personal history, past and present. Patients with DID report having severe physical and sexual abuse, especially during childhood. The reports of patients with DID are often validated by objective evidence.[1]

Physical evidence may include variations in physiological functions in different identity states, including differences in vision, levels of pain tolerance, symptoms of asthma, the response of blood glucose to insulin and sensitivity to allergens. Other physical findings may include scars from physical abuse or self-inflicted injuries, headaches or migraines, asthma and irritable bowel syndrome.[1]

DID is found in a variety of cultures around the world. It is diagnosed three to nine times more often in adult females than males. Females average 15 or more identities, males eight identities. The sharp rise in the reported cases of DID in the U.S. may be due the greater awareness of DID’s diagnosis, which has caused an increased identification of those that were previously undiagnosed.[1]

The average time period from DID’s first presentation of symptoms to its diagnosis is six to seven years. DID may become less manifest as patients reach past their late 40’s, but it can reemerge during stress, trauma or substance abuse. It is suggested in several studies that DID is more likely to occur with first-degree biological relatives of people that already have DID, than in the regular population.[1]

Symptomatology

Individuals diagnosed with DID demonstrate a variety of symptoms with wide fluctuations across time; functioning can vary from severe impairment in daily functioning to normal or high abilities.[2]

Patients may experience an extremely broad array of other symptoms that resemble epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, and eating disorders.[2]

Causes

The causes of dissociative identity disorder are theoretically linked with the interaction of overwhelming stress, traumatic antecedents,[3] insufficient childhood nurturing, and an innate ability to dissociate memories or experiences from consciousness.[2] Prolonged child abuse is frequently a factor, with a very high percentage of patients reporting documented abuse[4] often confirmed by objective evidence.[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that patients with DID often report having a history of severe physical and sexual abuse. The reports of patients suffering from DID are "often confirmed by objective evidence," and the DSM notes that the abusers in those situations may be inclined to "deny or distort” these acts.[1] Research has consistently shown that DID is characterized by reports of extensive childhood trauma, usually child abuse.[5][6][7] Dissociation is recognized as a symptomatic presentation in response to psychological trauma, extreme emotional stress, and in association with emotional dysregulation and borderline personality disorder.[8] A study of 12 murderers established the connection between early severe abuse and DID[9].

DSM inclusion

DID meets all of the guidelines for inclusion in the DSM and is supported by taxometric research.[10] Research has established DID as a valid diagnosis.[10] In one study, DID was found to be a genuine disorder with a constant set of core features.[11]


History

The 19th century saw a number of reported cases of multiple personalities which Rieber estimated would be close to 100.[12]

By the late 19th century there was a general realization that emotionally traumatic experiences could cause long-term disorders which may manifest with a variety of symptoms.[13] Between 1880 and 1920, many great international medical conferences devoted a lot of time to sessions on dissociation.[14]

Starting in about 1927, there was a large increase in the number of reported cases of schizophrenia, which was matched by an equally large decrease in the number of multiple personality reports.[14] Bleuler also included multiple personality in his category of schizophrenia. It was found in the 1980s that MPD patients are often misdiagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia.[14] Multiple personality disorder began to emerge as a separate disorder in the 1970s when an initially small number of clinicians worked to re-establish MPD as a legitimate diagnosis.[14]


Physiological Evidence

Physiological evidence has provided additional evidence to back the existence of DID. One review of the literature found "physiologic and ocular differences across alter personalities." [15]. Additional studies have been found showing optical differences in DID cases.[16][17] One study found that "eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically distinct alter personality states."[18]. Other reviews have found additional physiological differences[19]. Brain mapping has also found physiological differences in alternate personalities[20]. A variety of psychiatric rating scales found that multiple personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction[21].

References

1. American Psychiatric Association (2000-06).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV TR (Text Revision). Arlington, VA, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.. http://books.google.com/books?id=3SQrtpnHb9MC&pg=PA527&lpg=PA535&sig=25ML_7zbvvLZl6ySYCF4DomqeRU DOI:10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349. ISBN 978-0890420249.


2. Dissociative Identity Disorder, doctor's reference. Merck.com (2005-11-01). http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch197/ch197e.html


3. Pearson, M.L. (1997). Childhood trauma, adult trauma, and dissociation (PDF). Dissociation 10 (1): 58–62 https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/1837


4. Kluft, RP (2003). Current Issues in Dissociative Identity Disorder (PDF). Bridging Eastern and Western Psychiatry 1 (1): 71–87.


5. Putnam FW, Guroff JJ, Silberman EK, Barban L, Post RM (June 1986). "The clinical phenomenology of multiple personality disorder: review of 100 recent cases". J Clin Psychiatry 47 (6): 285–93. PMID 3711025. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3711025?dopt=Abstract


6. Ross CA, Miller SD, Bjornson L, Reagor P, Fraser GA, Anderson G (March 1991). "Abuse histories in 102 cases of multiple personality disorder". Can J Psychiatry 36 (2): 97–101. PMID 2044042."The patients reported high rates of childhood trauma: 90.2% had been sexually abused, 82.4% physically abused, and 95.1% subjected to one or both forms of child abuse....Multiple personality disorder appears to be a response to chronic trauma originating during a vulnerable period in childhood." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2044042?dopt=Abstract


7. Boon S, Draijer N (March 1993). Multiple personality disorder in The Netherlands: a clinical investigation of 71 patients. Am J Psychiatry 150 (3): 489–94. PMID 8434668."A history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse was reported by 94.4% of the subjects, and 80.6% met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder....Patients with multiple personality disorder have a stable set of core symptoms throughout North America as well as in Europe." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8434668?dopt=Abstract


8. Marmer S, Fink D (1994). "Rethinking the comparison of Borderline Personality Disorder and multiple personality disorder". Psychiatr Clin North Am 17 (4): 743–71. PMID 7877901. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7877901?dopt=Abstract


9. Lewis, D., Yeager, C., Swica, Y., Pincus, J. and Lewis, M. (1997). Objective documentation of child abuse and dissociation in 12 murderers with dissociative identity disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 154(12):1703-10. "Signs and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder in childhood and adulthood were corroborated independently and from several sources in all 12 cases; objective evidence of severe abuse was obtained in 11 cases. The subjects had amnesia for most of the abuse and underreported it. Marked changes in writing style and/or signatures were documented in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes, once and for all, the linkage between early severe abuse and dissociative identity disorder."


10. Gleaves, D.H.; May MC, Cardeña E (2001) An examination of the diagnostic validity of dissociative identity disorder. 21(4) 577-608 http://leadershipcouncil.org/docs/gleaves2001.pdf


11. Ross, C.; Norton, G. & Fraser, G. (1989). Evidence against the iatrogenesis of multiple personality disorder (PDF). Dissociation 2 (2): 61–65. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/1424


12. Rieber RW (2002). "The duality of the brain and the multiplicity of minds: can you have it both ways?". History of psychiatry 13 (49 Pt 1): 3–17. DOI:10.1177/0957154X0201304901. PMID 12094818. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12094818?dopt=Abstract


13. Borch-Jacobsen M, Brick D (2000). "How to predict the past: from trauma to repression". History of Psychiatry 11: 15–35. DOI:10.1177/0957154X0001104102.


14. Putnam, Frank W. (1989). Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York: The Guilford Press, 351. ISBN 0-89862-177-1.


15 Birnbaum MH, Thomann K. Visual function in multiple personality disorder. J Am Optom Assoc. 1996 Jun;67(6):327-34 "BACKGROUND: Multiple personality disorder (MPD) is characterized by the existence of two or more personality states that recurrently exchange control over the behavior of the individual. Numerous reports indicate physiological differences, including significant differences in ocular and visual function, across alter personality states in MPD. METHODS: The existing literature was reviewed to provide an overview of the nature and characteristics of MPD, with emphasis on reported physiologic and ocular differences across alter personalities. In addition, a case is reported of an MPD patient seen over a 3-year period. RESULTS: Physiologic differences across alter personality states in MPD include differences in dominant handedness, response to the same medication, allergic sensitivities, autonomic and endocrine function, EEG, VEP, and regional cerebral blood flow. Differences in visual function include variability in visual acuity, refraction, oculomotor status, visual field, color vision, corneal curvature, pupil size, and intraocular pressure in the various personality states of MPD subjects as compared to single personality controls. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of MPDs should be considered in patients who demonstrate unusual variability in ocular and visual findings, particularly with a positive psychiatric history. The existence of visual and other physiologic differences across alter personalities in MPD offers a unique potential for the study of mind-body relationships." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8888853


16 Miller SD. Optical differences in cases of multiple personality disorder. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1989 Aug;177(8):480-6 "MPD subjects had significantly more variability in visual functioning across alter personalities than did control subjects." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2760599


17 Miller SD, Blackburn T, Scholes G, White GL, Mamalis N. Optical differences in multiple personality disorder. A second look. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1991 Mar;179(3):132-5. "In the present study, data from 20 patients diagnosed with MPD and 20 control subjects role playing MPD were analyzed for statistical and clinical significance. The findings from the present study appear to confirm results from the earlier study that individuals with MPD experience differences in some aspects of visual functioning between alter personalities. The results further confirm that MPD subjects experience more differences across visual measures than control subjects simulating the disorder." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1997659


18 Putnam FW, Zahn TP, Post RM. Psychiatry Res. 1990 Mar;31(3):251-60.Differential autonomic nervous system activity in multiple personality disorder. "Numerous clinical reports suggest that these alter personality states exhibit distinct physiological differences. We investigated differential autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity across nine subjects with MPD and five controls, who produced "alter" personality states by simulation and by hypnosis or deep relaxation. Eight of the nine MPD subjects consistently manifested physiologically distinct alter personality states." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2333357


19 Miller SD, Triggiano PJ. The psychophysiological investigation of multiple personality disorder: review and update. Am J Clin Hypn. 1992 Jul;35(1):47-61. "psychophysiologic differences reported in the literature include changes in cerebral electrical activity, cerebral blood flow, galvanic skin response, skin temperature, event-related potentials, neuroendocrine profiles, thyroid function, response to medication, perception, visual functioning, visual evoked potentials, and in voice, posture, and motor behavior." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1442640


20 Hughes JR, Kuhlman DT, Fichtner CG, Gruenfeld MJ. Brain mapping in a case of multiple personality. Clin Electroencephalogr. 1990 Oct;21(4):200-9. "Brain maps were recorded on a patient with a multiple personality disorder (10 alternate personalities). Maps were recorded with eyes open and eyes closed during 2 different sessions, 2 months apart. Maps from each alternate personality were compared to those of the basic personality "S", some maps were similar and some were different, especially with eyes open. Findings that were replicated in the second session showed differences from 4 personalities, especially in theta and beta 2 frequencies on the left temporal and right posterior regions." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2225470

21 Coons PM, Bowman ES, Milstein V. Multiple personality disorder. A clinical investigation of 50 cases. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1988 Sep;176(9):519-27. "50 consecutive patients with DSM-III multiple personality disorder were assessed using clinical history, psychiatric interview, neurological examination, electroencephalogram, MMPI, intelligence testing, and a variety of psychiatric rating scales. Results revealed that patients with multiple personality are usually women who present with depression, suicide attempts, repeated amnesic episodes, and a history of childhood trauma, particularly sexual abuse....These data suggest that the etiology of multiple personality is strongly related to childhood trauma rather than to an underlying electrophysiological dysfunction." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3418321


Bibliography

* Baer, Richard A. (2007). Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities. [New York]: Crown. ISBN 0307382664.
* Braun, B.G. (1989). Dissociation: Vol. 2, No. 2, p. 066-069: Iatrophilia and Iatrophobia in the diagnosis and treatment of MPD (PDF). http://hdl.handle.net/1794/1425
* Brown, D; Frischholz E, Scheflin A. (1999). "Iatrogenic dissociative identity disorder - an evaluation of the scientific evidence". The Journal of Psychiatry and Law XXVII No. 3-4 (Fall-Winter 1999): 549–637.
* Gleaves, D. (July 1996). The sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder: a reexamination of the evidence. Psychological Bulletin 120 (1): 42–59. DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.120.1.42. PMID 8711016. "Most recent research on the dissociative disorders does not support (and in fact disconfirms) the sociocognitive model, and many inferences drawn from previous research appear unwarranted. No reason exists to doubt the connection between DID and childhood trauma. Treatment recommendations that follow from the sociocognitive model may be harmful because they involve ignoring the posttraumatic symptomatology of persons with DID." http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=1996-01403-003
* Goettmann, B. A.; Greaves, B. G., Coons M. P. (1994).Multiple personality and dissociation, 1791-1992: a complete bibliography. Lutherville, MD: The Sidran Press, 85. ISBN 0-9629164-5-5. http://boundless.uoregon.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/diss&CISOPTR=38
* Kluft, R.P. (1989). Iatrogenic creation of new alter personalities (PDF). Dissociation 2 (2): 83–91. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/1428
* Underwood, Anne. Identity Crisis - What is it like to live with 17 alternate selves? A survivor of multiple personality disorder discusses the disease and the painful integration process that made her whole. Newsweek, October 22, 2007. http://www.newsweek.com/id/57861


External links

* United States of Tara - Learn More About D.I.D. - Showtime supports the awareness for Dissociative Identity Disorder http://www.sho.com/site/video/brightcove/series/title.do?bcpid=1847322218&bclid=5253538001&bctid=6803420001

Spillover Torture from the Military/Warring Sphere into the Private Sphere

Spillover Torture from the Military/Warring Sphere into the Private Sphere: Making Visible a Silenced Human Rights Violation and Victimized Persons' ‘Body Talk'
by Jeanne Sarson and Linda Macdonald, June 2, 2011

Presented At: Canadian Peace Research Association (CPRA)

2011 Conference and Annual General Council Meeting - CPRA is part of the 2011 Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences of Canada, hosted by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada

Website: http//:www.nonstatetorture.org
the paper describes graphic abuse

....Spillover into the private sphere of pedophilic torture against girls by perpetrators with warring or military experiences For us, raising this question began to emerge 18 years ago, when faced with the reality that pedophilic torture victimization was occurring in the so-called private or domestic sphere perpetrated by non-state actors, some who had military or warring experiences.

Some of these torturers were also parents and extended inter-generational family members who were connected to like-minded others. For some women, so tortured as girls, they believed the horrors of war were contributing factors that led to the pedophilic torture they suffered in childhood.....

Web survey, pedophilic NST, ritualisms & military connections

• 90% (142 out of 157) of survey respondents were female
• 62% (96 out of 155) indicated their victimization occurred between 1946-1975
• 37% (57 out of the 155) stated victimization was after 1976 into the present
• 62% (96 out of 155) indicated perpetrators were military members, veterans, or civilian military employees
• 77% (120 out of 155) indicated perpetrators were male & female officers & other ranks
• 63% (97 out of 154) were trafficked, within their own country, or into one or more other countries.
(Sarson & MacDonald, 2009)

....media reports reveal that the manufacturing of pedophilic sexualized violence images occurs in Canada and some is interfamilial and homemade. One Canadian report that assessed 4,110 pedophilic images taken from 15,662 websites hosting child pornography showed (Canadian Centre for Child Protection, 2009)

....These examples provide a brief insight into how unexpressed past victimization and traumatization pain and suffering create present day real body memory pain – real body talk – but as real as the physical body talk pain is experienced it is generally not relieved with pain medication. It is relieved when she has succeeded to process the remembered torture ordeal.
http://nonstatetorture.org/files/9313/0714/7474/spillovernst.pdf

Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door - 300,000 young American girls

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Child Welfare Response to Child Trafficking 293,000 young people may be at risk

"... an estimated 293,000 young people who may be at risk for being trafficked specifically for the sex trade."

"Global estimates suggest there are upwards of 27 million people in slavery around the world"

Child Welfare Response to Child Trafficking
By James R. Marsh on June 1, 2011

Human trafficking is arguably one of the most disturbing human rights abuses of our time. The United States Department of Justice has estimated that between 14,500 and 17,500 foreign men, women, and children are trafficked into the United States each year.

While estimates indicate that thousands of child trafficking victims exist in the United States, very few have been identified and recovered. Between 2001 and 2009, only 212 foreign minors were successfully recognized by U.S. authorities as victims of trafficking.

Human trafficking is a relatively new issue and emerging area of knowledge for most social service, legal, and law enforcement professionals. It was only in 2000 that the first federal anti-trafficking statute, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), was enacted.
http://www.childlaw.us/2011/06/child-welfare-response-to-chil.html


Building Child Welfare Response to Child Trafficking
Center for the Human Rights for Children, Loyola University Chicago

International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA)....
Human trafficking is arguably one of the most disturbing human rights abuses of our time. The United States Department of Justice has estimated that between 14,500 and 17,500 foreign men, women, and children are trafficked into the United States each year.1

These estimates, however, do not include U.S. citizens who have been trafficked, including an estimated 293,000 young people who may be at risk for being trafficked specifically for the sex trade.2

Women and children may comprise as much as eighty percent of the total number of victims of human trafficking.3

These unprotected young children and adolescents are forced into prostitution, domestic servitude, restaurant work, and other types of exploitative labor, or simply find ways to survive on the street....

Global estimates suggest there are upwards of 27 million people in slavery around the world....

16,000 women and girls are commercially sexually exploited
in the metropolitan Chicago area, with an average age of 12 years old at entry. Over 60% enter prostitution before the age of 18.
http://www.luc.edu/chrc/pdfs/BCWRHandbook2011.pdf

Nigerian 'baby factory' raided, 32 teenage girls freed

Jun 1, 2011 LAGOS (AFP) – Nigerian police have raided a home allegedly being used to force teenage girls to have babies that were then offered for sale for trafficking or other purposes, authorities said on Wednesday.

"We stormed the premises of the Cross Foundation in Aba three days ago following a report that pregnant girls aged between 15 and 17 are being made to make babies for the proprietor," said Bala Hassan, police commissioner for Abia state in the country's southeast.

"We rescued 32 pregnant girls and arrested the proprietor who is undergoing interrogation over allegations that he normally sells the babies to people who may use them for rituals or other purposes."....

Hassan said the owner of the "illegal baby factory" is likely to face child abuse and human trafficking charges. Buying or selling of babies is illegal in Nigeria and can carry a 14-year jail term....

In 2008, police raids revealed an alleged network of such clinics, dubbed baby "farms" or "factories" in the local press.

Cases of child abuse and people trafficking are common in West Africa. Some children are bought from their families to for use as labour in plantations, mines, factories or as domestic help.

Others are sold into prostitution while a few are either killed or tortured in black magic rituals. NAPTIP says it has also seen a trend of illegal adoption.

"There is a problem of illict adoption and people not knowing the right way to adopt children," said Okoronkwo.

Human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime after economic fraud and drug trafficking in the country, according to UNESCO.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110601/wl_africa_afp/nigeriacrimechildtrafficking_20110601143218

Scientologist charged for 'intimidating' alleged sex abuse victim

Scientologist charged for 'intimidating' alleged sex abuse victim - Leo Shanahan From: The Australian May 31, 2011

A SENIOR member of the Church of Scientology has been charged by police for intimidating a young girl who wanted to report sexual abuse allegations within the church.

Jan Eastgate, the head of the church's "International Commission on Human Rights" which attacks psychology, has been charged by NSW Police with perverting the course of justice.

According the ABC TV's Lateline, police have alleged Eastgate intimidated a then 11-year-old Carmen Rainer to provide false statements about sexual abuse by her stepfather.

Ms Rainer has alleged that Ms Eastgate, who was then head of the church's citizens' commission on human rights in Australia, told her she should deny any charges of the sexual abuse or she and her brother would be taken away by social services.

Ms Rainer's mother Phoebe has also admitted Ms Eastgate told both of them what to say and to lie to police and in an interview with the Department of Community Services. Ms Eastgate previously called the allegations "egregiously false".
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/scientologist-charged-for-intimidating-alleged-sex-abuse-victim/story-e6frg6nf-1226066045613


Senior Scientologist Jan Eastgate arrested, charged in Sydney
From: news.com.au May 31, 2011

A LEADING Church of Scientology figure allegedly coached an 11-year-old girl to lie about sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepfather.

Jan Eastgate, who is the international president of the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, has been charged in relation to allegations she coached Carmen Raine into lying about the claims, the ABC reported.

The girl's stepfather was a member of the Church of Scientology.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/senior-scientologist-jan-eastgate-arrested-charged-in-sydney/story-e6frg12c-1226066180641

NO WAY OUT BUT ONE: a story of love and justice

NO WAY OUT BUT ONE: a story of love and justice

Project by Garland Waller and Barry Nolan

A TRUE STORY OF FIERCE LOVE AND BLIND JUSTICE

No Way Out But One is a documentary that tells the story of Holly Collins, an American woman who was driven by fear, love and desperation to kidnap her own children and go on the run in order to protect them from a life of abuse. Wanted by the FBI, Holly left behind everything she owned and everyone she knew in an effort to keep her children safe. She became an international fugitive, eventually making it to Amsterdam. After spending 2 years in a refugee camp out in the middle of nowhere, living shoulder to shoulder with other desperate souls fleeing violence torn hell holes around the world,

Holly became the first American woman to ever be granted asylum by the Government of the Netherlands, due to domestic violence. Though it focuses on the desperate measures that one woman felt she had to take to protect her children, it also exposes the problems that protective parents and vulnerable children are facing nearly every day in courtrooms across the country....

No Way Out But One is based on extensive interviews with Holly and her family, medical professionals, lawyers, and child advocates. Filming has been completed in The Netherlands, Boston, Washington DC, and New York. The producers have culled through thousands of pages of court and medical records, unpublished journals, news reports, family photos and videos. Our Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI for Holly’s files, resulted in the identification of nearly 1,000 pages of never before seen material.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2038674816/no-way-out-but-one-a-story-of-love-and-justice