Re: Reply for Dissident

"We do hear from a few of the victims but I would think that shame surrounding the issue might cause many not to want to make themselves the subject of public scrutiny. You might ask yourself that question - would you make it public if you were such a victim?"

Much of the shame stems from living in a sex-negative culture. If some people are ashamed of what they enjoy, and most are taught that its inappropriate to discuss sex in even a positive context in public, then those attitudes won't be shut-off when the subject is negative.

And then there's the issue of responsibility. In Western culture we are supposed to be in control of our lives. Crime reminds us that we aren't always in control. And yet the acculturation tells us to search ourselves to see if we could have prevented it. So we take partial responsibility for even those things we didn't do to ourselves and couldn't have prevented. ( Dupes of the Nigerian internet scams rarely discuss their experience, even as an object lesson. They feel shame for having been victimized. )

Combine a culture which is sex-negative and which also fetishizes creating your own destiny and you have a formula for sex-abuse victims not talking.

And yet, the other message majority society sends is, "Yes, this happens. Its important. Denouncing your abuse is necessary. Don't keep it hidden."

While at the same time saying, "And if your experience wasn't abusive it isn't valid. Children can't consent. And a child admitting to consent is simply a prosecution waiting to happen."

So if we are to assume more representation than the numbers bear, what sort of speech should we assume is being more suppressed; the difficult to express, or the illegal to express?

Dante