Child abuse - the unseen impact on family members, partners and friends
Survivors of childhood abuse often feel that their lives were changed
beyond recognition the first time their abuser started to groom and
abuse them. As the vast majority of child abuse survivors do not disclose their
abuse for a number of years after the actual assaults, this causes a
period of time where they often struggle to manage the emotional impact
of the abuse and this then affects their relationships with family
members, partners and friends. Often survivors will become disruptive
in school and at home while it is also very common to see them start to
drink excessively, take illegal drugs or self-harm in an effort to erase
their feelings and memories of the abuse.
