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National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
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NAASCA Highlights
- Media Watch - |
EDITOR'S NOTE: Here are a few recent stories and feature articles from a variety of sources that are related to the kinds of issues we cover on our web site. They'll represent a small percentage of the information available to us, the public, as we fight to provide meaningful recovery services and help for those who've suffered child abuse. We'll add to and update this page regularly, bringing you just a few of the featured articles on the web site. |
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Thank you Oprah
We at the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (NAASCA) wish to thank Oprah Winfrey for her thoughtful and informative advocacy on the many issues surrounding child abuse.
Ms. Winfrey knows all too well that there are far too few of us in recovery who can speak knowledgeably from our personal experience, too few who have come through the tragedy of having our lives instantly diverted to dark places by our molesters, pornographers and kidnappers.
As everyone knows, The Oprah Winfrey Show is in its last season. We hope there will be place on the new Oprah Winfrey Network to continue the high quality and much needed discussion on the issues of child abuse. |
Here is a reprint of some of the information / issues that have appeared recently on The Oprah Winfrey Show: |
Pedophiles groom their
victims .. and their
victim's
families |
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Child Sexual Abuse: 6 Stages of Grooming
by Dr. Michael Welner
Grooming is the process by which an offender draws a victim into a sexual relationship and maintains that relationship in secrecy. The shrouding of the relationship is an essential feature of grooming. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner explains the six stages that can lead up to sexual molestation.
The grooming sex offender works to separate the victim from peers, typically by engendering in the child a sense that they are special to the child and giving a kind of love to the child that the child needs. |
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Daniel Kovarbasich |
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The Boy Who Killed His Molester
January 22, 2010, started off as a typical Friday for 16-year-old Daniel Kovarbasich. That morning, his father drove his mother to work, dropping off Daniel at the home of close family friend Duane Hurley, who was supposed to take Daniel to school.
Thirty minutes later, Duane was dead. Daniel had stabbed him 55 times.
Immediately after the stabbing, Daniel frantically called his father, Terry. Terry raced to meet Daniel and found him standing on the street, his hands caked in blood. Inside the house, the scene was gruesome. Duane lay lifeless at the top of the stairs with blood splattered across his body, floor and walls. ( See the OPINION on this story ) |
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Ellie Nesler |
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Lasting Affects of Child Molestation
It was one of the most unforgettable news stories of the '90s. On April 2, 1993, Ellie Nesler, a single mother seeking justice, shot and killed her son's accused rapist in the courtroom.
Some hailed Ellie as a hero...but that didn't help her case. She was charged with voluntary manslaughter and convicted. Her son, Willy, was sent to live with his aunt, while her daughter, Rebecca, went to live with her grandmother.
Two years later, Oprah first spoke with Ellie and her children. At that time, Ellie was serving time in a California prison for killing Daniel Driver, the man who was on trial for molesting Willy and four other boys. ( See the OPINION on this story ) |
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Oprah and a few of the 200 sexually abused men |
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Lasting Effects of Male Sexual Abuse
200 sexually abused men are Oprah's special guests
On November 5, 2010, Oprah, Tyler Perry and 200 male audience members made television history when they stood together to say they were sexually abused as children.
Now, the significant others and family members of these courageous men are joining the conversation.
"When abuse destroys the man, it destroys everything in their lives, including their relationships," Oprah says. "Sexual abuse—I know this for sure—plants the seeds of inferiority and worthlessness, and then that inferiority and worthlessness shapes the way you start to think about yourself and the way you act and act out. That's why we're here today: to release some of that." |
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Dr. Laura Berman |
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Dr. Laura Berman: The Aftermath of Sexual Abuse
Dr. Laura Berman is most often associated with her work as a sex therapist and as the author of books like The Book of Love . However, Dr. Berman has also worked extensively with child molesters and victims of sexual abuse.
Dr. Berman says she's learned that even after the abuse ends, a survivor may struggle for decades.
"It's not just the act itself," she says. "It's what happens to you after the act."
According to Dr. Berman, long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse may include quite a number of things. |
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Four Child Molestors |
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4 Things You Need to Know About Child Molestation
Stranger Danger Myth
Over the decades, Oprah has done countless shows about child abuse and sexual predators…but this is a first. In January 2010, Oprah sat down with four admitted child molesters and their therapist, Dawn Horwitz-Person, for a frank discussion about the cycle of abuse, graphic details of their crimes and how they methodically groomed their victims.
"I was raped at 9 and molested from the ages of 9 through 14, and because of that, I've always wanted to be able to sit down and talk to a group of child molesters and ask them why and how they do what they do," Oprah says. "It's the most honest conversation I've ever had with sex offenders." |
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Oprah Winfrey |
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Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse
After Oprah aired her no-holds-barred conversation with four admitted child molesters in February 2010, letters, emails and phone calls started pouring in. "We were overwhelmed by the response to that interview," she says. "So many victims and parents—and even molesters—came forward."
Then, just a few weeks later, she continued raising awareness about childhood sexual abuse by touching on a subject that's rarely discussed—mothers who abuse. Gregg Milligan, a man who says he was raped by his mother when he was a boy, shared details of his horrific childhood. His story inspired even more victims to come forward.
"That is exactly the reason why I wanted to do these shows," Oprah says. "To get people to step out of the shame, to come forward, to tell somebody." |
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