Catching up with The
Associated Press, which
did the story last year, The New York
Times published
a story in June about how the hype and hysteria surrounding the Penn State
scandal obscures the fact that rates of child abuse in general, and child
sexual abuse in particular, actually have been declining significantly.
Two advocates are
remarkably candid about one of the reasons for this: It’s because so many of
their fellow advocates want it that way.
According to the story:
Mark Chaffin, a professor in the department of pediatrics at the
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, had one possible explanation for
why it was hard for some people to accept the numbers. "The child abuse
field has always been one that felt like there was not enough public policy
attention, so the narrative reflected that. It's at crisis proportions; it's
getting worse every year; it's an epidemic," he said. "So when people
hear that the rates are going down, it really is sort of a challenge."
Lucy Berliner, director of the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and
Traumatic Stress in Seattle, notes that many child advocacy groups depend on
government financing, and good news always brings mixed feelings. One of them
is the fear that if the issue does not seem dire enough, the money might dry
up.
"It is very risky to suggest that the problem you're involved with
has gotten smaller," she said.
Even if it happens to be
true.
