The impact of sexual trauma in children: let's talk about sexuality

There are subjects that are hard to talk about, and that is precisely why they must be talked about. In this stretch of my conversation with psychologist Barbara Diez we tackle one of the most difficult, the impact of sexual trauma in childhood. Barbara puts it plainly: sexual violence suffered as a child leaves enormous marks that stay with the person for their whole life.

The problem, she explains, is that in our society everything to do with affection and sex has been a taboo for decades, and that silence plays into the hands of whoever does harm. Sexuality is one more dimension of being human and it can be talked about with respect, including with the youngest. Explaining to them what they may allow and what not, what signs should make them suspicious, and above all that they should never feel alone. Because that’s where the word running through the whole talk appears, loneliness. The victims are usually children who have no one to turn to. And when Barbara works with adults who were abused in childhood, she finds that much of the damage came not only from the episodes themselves, but from having had no one to tell.