Abstract
M.A.
Child sexual abuse is a phenomenon that affects children all over the world.
Over the past years we have seen an increase in child sexual abuse cases
being reported (Richter and Dawes (2008). Parents and professionals are all
concerned about children's safety, and the alarming number of cases reported
daily makes it an even more difficult and destructive phenomenon to deal
with.
The South African government have gone to great lengths to put measures in
place to protect our children. The new Child Care Act (act 38 of 2005) which
came into effect in 2008, acknowledge certain rights of children, sets out
principles relating to the care and protection of children, defines parental
responsibilities and rights, and it makes provision for matters such as
children's courts, adoption, child abduction and surrogate motherhood.
There are currently scores of literature on child sexual abuse, but hardly any
could be found that specifically relate to the non-abusive mothers and their
experiences. The aims of the current study are: 1) to explore the lived
experiences of non-abusive mothers whose children have been sexually
abused by their intimate male partners, and 2) to add to the discourse of
sexual abuse within the South African context.
It is imperative to understand the experiences of non-abusive mothers, as this
will provide new insights into our understanding of a phenomenon like child
sexual abuse. The investigation elicited some of the common themes,
thoughts and feelings, which describe the experiences that non-abusive
mothers share.
In order to conceptualise the experiences of non-abusive mothers, this study
drew upon an existential phenomenological framework. This framework is
useful, as it allows for mothers' own subjective experiences, and their own
interpretations and understanding of these experiences to come to the fore,
as opposed to the researcher's understanding of the non-abusive mothers'
experiences.
Non-abusive mothers seem to go through a similar process as those who grief
the loss of a loved one, or who has experienced some kind of loss in their
lives. This study elicited some of the themes that correspond with this process
of grief. The experience for each of the mothers has been different; however
there are commonalities in the way in which they describe their experiences. It
would seem that non-abusive mothers experience an intense and
overwhelming sense of loss, anger, disbelief, blame, shock, guilt, and
depression.