I recently got sent this picture and it a reminder of the impact children have on our lives. It’s also a benchmark for those of us who’s lives are thrown upside down by sexual abuse. Raising a child has it’s own pressures and sexual abuse only makes it more challenging, and expensive. The cost of abuse to a family can easily add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of raising a child, and even more over the lifetime of a victim.
Back on Track
Whether you like the “ounce of prevention” analogy, or if you have been around projects you may have heard that identifying problems early makes them cheaper to address. Getting your lives back on track as quickly as possible after the abuse is going to be much less expensive than ignoring the problem. The temptation may be to avoid the problem and try to put it behind you. This is the mistake that many families make. Long term this can be a costly approach since victims can easily descend into addiction, depression, or worse. Families can easily come apart at the seams ending in divorce. Life is complicated enough without having to deal with sexual abuse, but this is the hand we are dealt.
You don’t need to spend years in therapy, but you do need a plan. It doesn’t need to be a good plan, just a plan. You will quickly find that it needs adjustment. Sexual abuse is going to have a cost on your life, but with some planning you can minimize the cost and damage it has on your lives.
Image created by: EarlyChildhoodEducation.com
Let us know if we can help you dealing with your family’s sexual abuse situation. For ideas to get started please check out our book on what to do during the early days after disclosure.
