Pathway to Hope: A Tribal Community-Based Empowerment Curriculum to Heal Child Sexual Abuse
Abstract
While serving as an advocate for adult victims of domestic and
sexual violence, and helping Alaska Tribes develop their child
abuse response systems in the 1990s, I became aware of the high
number of child sexual abuse survivors in rural Alaska villages. In
some communities, Native adults courageously exposed the sexual
abuse of children although there was still denial and silence from
others in the community. As we discussed ways to help those
ready to end silence and denial, community education events
were planned so that other adults would learn to believe and then
support children who reported sexual abuse. Having previously
used videos such as Young Once, Indian Forever (1996) and Bitter
Earth (1993) in other Indian Country work, I brought these
resources to rural Alaska. (These videos were produced in reservation
settings and are no longer available.) However, the videos
portrayed cultures and federal or tribal justice systems that were
unfamiliar to Alaska Natives. As we worked to open dialog and
facilitate awareness about these difficult issues, it was apparent
that the voices of other Alaska Natives about the effects of child
sexual abuse provided a key to ending silence and denial and
finding paths for healing.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
child sexual abuse, therapy, healing, community based, curriculum
Citation
Payne, D. Pathway to Hope: A Tribal Community-Based Empowerment Curriculum to Heal Child Sexual Abuse. APSAC Advisor.