Abstract

QUIROZ ARANGO, Margarita Inés  and  PENARANDA CORREA, Fernando. Mother's responses to sexual abuse of their children. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2009, vol.7, n.2, pp.1027-1053. ISSN 1692-715X.

The goal of this research was to understand the meanings and responses that mothers of sexually abused children gave to this phenomenon, which could provide useful knowledge for defining better policies and programs. It is a qualitative study that used discussion groups with five mothers of four girls and one boy who had been sexually abused. These mothers attended two Family-Care Centers in the city of Medellín, Colombia, in 2005. The voices of these women show that sexual abuse happens in affective, communicative and socioeconomic vulnerable families, where this problem is a common issue in daily life. Sexual abuse becomes a catastrophe that affects the precarious socioeconomic and affective balance that these families have built to cope with their difficult life situations. Mothers undertake different actions to tackle with their situation under the social stigmatization, silence and poor support from the institutions that are supposed to help them. For these women, the reconstruction of their role as mothers becomes a central issue to overcome the feeling of impotence generated by the destruction of their socioeconomic and emotional family balance.

Keywords : sexual abuse; vulnerable families; motherhood; qualitative research.

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