Support for Child Sexual Abuse Victims

Dallas Attorney for Child Sexual Abuse Victims

Lawyer Tahira Khan Merritt and her team recommend that victims of child sexual abuse find someone to confide in about their experiences and seek support. You can often draw strength and understanding from a trusted family member. However, you shouldn't stop there. The type of support and guidance you can get from a therapist trained to treat victims of child sexual abuse is particularly valuable, as is the special understanding available from a victim who has been trained to counsel others who have experienced sexual abuse.

This page provides information about some of the many resources available to help survivors of child sexual abuse.

Victim's Advocate Dave Lewcon

Victims tell us that there is nothing quite so reassuring as getting support from another victim: someone who knows first hand what it means to have endured a childhood assault, and to have lived for years with bad memories, secrecy, and even guilt and embarrassment. As a resource for the office of attorney Tahira Khan Merritt, clergy abuse survivor Dave Lewcon assists victims with many issues resulting from the sexual misconduct of a trusted spiritual elder.

Finding a therapist

The web site of the Texas Attorney General features a page listing more than 70 sexual assault programs and organizations throughout Texas. Contact these respected organizations for a confidential referral to a therapist in your area.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)

SNAP is the nation's largest, oldest and most active support group for women and men wounded by religious authority figures (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns and others). It is an independent and confidential self-help organization with no official connections with the church. Its members are survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters. SNAP's three-part mission is self-help, education and prevention. You can learn much more about SNAP through their national Web site.

There are Texas SNAP chapters in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Each city has local leaders you can contact by phone or e-mail for advice and support. All contact with SNAP leaders is kept confidential. Several of the Texas chapters also have local support group meetings where you can interact and share experiences with other survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Special Considerations for Male Survivors of Sexual Assault

The following information is adapted from the Counseling and Mental Health Center of the University of Texas at Austin, and the Department of Health Education at Brown University, Providence, RI.

Many people believe that sexual assault is committed only by men against women. While it is true that most sexual assaults are perpetrated by men, men can be victims too. In fact, 1 out of every 10 men is a victim of sexual assault. Victimization can include both childhood sexual abuse and assault of an adult. Men, who often have a difficult time accepting their own victimization, and they delay seeking help and support.

What should you do if you were assaulted?

If you are a survivor of child sexual abuse, remember that it was not your fault that you were assaulted, and that you are not alone.

You have the right to take any or all of these actions:

• Ask for support. Talk with someone you trust and/or get help by calling one of these sexual assault resources. You can ask to speak with a male or female counselor. Even if they don't have male staff on call, almost all rape crisis centers can make referrals to male counselors who are sensitive to the needs of male sexual assault survivors.
• Call a Texas rape crisis center. The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) provides a list of sexual assault crisis centers throughout the state. Most have trained workers available 24 hours a day to answer phone calls. Even if the assault was not in the recent past, you can still call a crisis center for support. If you are outside Texas? Call the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) 1-800-656-HOPE. Call this national hotline to be automatically connected to a rape crisis center near to where you live. The confidential service is available 24 hours a day.
• Seek medical attention. Even if you think that you do not have any physical injuries, you should still have a medical examination. Medical providers will, with your permission, collect physical evidence to be used if you decide to prosecute. They will also discuss the possibility of sexually transmitted infections and encourage you to get tested.
• WARNING: Some priest perpetrators are known to have had HIV or AIDS during the periods of their abuse.
• Report it to the authorities. Reporting the crime can help you regain a sense of personal power and control and can also help to ensure the safety of other potential victims.
• WARNING: If you report your abuse/abuser to his church/organization, neither may ever be reported by it to civil authorities.

Free attorney consultation: Contact Dallas lawyer Tahira Khan Merritt today for a free consultation about your child sexual abuse case.