NCJ Number
192828
Date Published
2001
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video is a documentary detailing three women who are recovering from incest and their work in ending the cycle of incest and child sexual abuse.
Abstract
Janice Mirikitani, President of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, California, started a recovery group for women alcoholics and addicts and learned that over 90 percent were sexually abused as children. Former Miss America Marilyn Van Derbur came from "an exceptionaly beautiful" family of four girls who were all sexually abused by their father as children. Barbara Hamilton endured her father's nighttime visits to her bedroom starting when she was 9 years old and was shocked to learn that her father and brother went on to sexually abuse her own children. These three women share their stories so that other women can step forward and admit their own abuse. Janice calls incest an invisible wound. The person that a child depends upon, cares for, loves, and trusts is the perpetrator-her father, brother, uncle, grandfather. The child is unable to speak up, believing that it would hurt the family in some way, and warned by the perpetrator to be quiet. Belief systems are shattered. Children are not allowed to reveal the family secret and the result is they feel cut off from every relationship. Healing circles, where women get together to talk about their abuse, are powerful forces. Barbara stopped the three-generation cycle of abuse in her family. Therapy allowed these women to replace their shame with the pride of healing and recovering. Learning to trust and become intimate is hard because the body cannot be separated from the feelings. The message is that the pain does end. It is time to stand up and be known, to see there are others, and to let go of the shame. Reaching out to others is part of the healing process.