How Might Secondary Victims React?
It is common for siblings who are secondary or indirect victims of sexual abuse to have emotional reactions. These can include:
- Anger toward family members
- At the sibling for telling
- At the parent for not being able to protect the sibling
- At the parent for reporting or for making the abuser leave the home
- Anxiety about what will happen next
- Helplessness to control events or fear about the future
- Guilt for not telling, not knowing, or not caring
- Feeling of shame for the sibling, family, or abuser
- Confusion at what happens next
It is hard but important to tell siblings about the sexual abuse with age-appropriate language. A child’s response to learning about this may be:
- Denial
- Desire to protect the abuser rather than the sibling
- Downplaying the abuse or unwilling to believe it
- Anger
- Guilt
- Relief
If there is an emotional attachment to a close relative who has been identified as the sibling’s abuser such as a parent, brother / sister, grandparent, or others, the sibling may be confused about whether to support their sibling or abuser.
