By Chris Rose
WCSH
November 16, 2011
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/179397/2/News-of-abuse-impacts-victims
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[with video]
Portland, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - People who work with victims say the silence that surrounds sexual abuse has been the biggest obstacle in combating the problem.
Whether it's questions surrounding the Reverend Bob Carlson's death or new developments in the Penn State case, the issue of child sexual abuse is in the news and on people's minds. As difficult as these cases are to hear about, they do have people talking and child advocates say that's a good thing.
Doctor Lawrence Ricci is the pre-eminent child abuse expert in Maine. For 23-years he has been helping to heal children's physical and emotional wounds. He says more often than not young victims remain silent because they are intimidated by an abuser who is an authority figure.
He says hearing about sexual abuse cases on the news can cause victims a lot of anxiety, but in some cases it almost gives them permission to start talking about their experiences.
"What it does is get parents, family members and schools to start talking about this issue and once we start talking about the issue kids are more comfortable coming forward and disclosing", he said.
Victims coming forward after hearing about these stories is common according to Ricci, such as what happened after the catholic priest sex abuse case broke.
Dr, Ricci works in Portland at Spurwink. If you'd like more information go to http://www.spurwink.org. You can also find counseling and other services at Community Counseling Center. You can find them at http://commcc.org
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