Parents of Sexually Abused Children
Your Voice is needed -- Please comment on the following ethical questions, it's vitally important (you can comment anonymously):
- If your child was sexually abused or you suspected your child was sexually abused, would you allow the news media to publish your child's name and or photograph in the newspaper?
- If you lost custody of your child, would you allow the news media to publish your child's name and or photograph in any newspaper or allow it to be shown on the nightly news?
- If your child is now over the age of 18, grew up without knowing you, because you lost custody of the child, would you publish your child's name in a newspaper, including a current photo of them?
- Should your adult child have a right to privacy? Or should you have the right to force your adult child to become a "poster child" for others, even if it's going against their wishes?
Ethics of News Media in Covering Cases of Sexual Violence
posted by Jewish Survivors at Tuesday, December 06, 2005
8 Comments:
What mother in their right mind would publish their child's name in a paper in a case like this? Wouldn't you do what you could to protect them from any more harm?
If I lost custody of my child, I think I would wait until the child was of age and try to contact them directly. If the child refused, I would keep trying, yet never do anything to cause them shame or embarassment.
I would not under any of these circumstances, allow my child's name or photo to be used in the newspaper. If my child were over 18, then it would be his or her choice whether to have her name or photo published.
I might allow a newspaper to publish my child's name and photograph if I were searching for that child, unless the child was a victim of sexual abuse. I would not tie those two things together. I assume, in your case, that the non-custodial parent has lost contact with the child. Under that circumstance I might allow it, but I wouldn't mention particulars such as abuse in the child's life.
If a parent published a child's name and photograph, with the story of abuse, I would consider that parent as being exploitive. If you exploit a child, isn't that a form of child abuse?
I heard of a case similar to this and I wondered if the parent had Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.
In Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a perpetrator assumes the sick role indirectly (i.e., by proxy) by feigning or producing illness in another person. Usually, the perpetrator is a mother who produces the symptoms or illness in her child of under six years of age (Kahan & Yorker, 1991). However, cases have been reported with adults as both perpetrators and victims. The syndrome is well known to veterinarians. In such cases, a pet's owner fabricates signs and symptoms in the animal (Sigal et al., 1989).
http://earthops.org/munchausen/munchausen.html
Everyone, including children, is entitled to his or her privacy. To "out" someone against their will or until they're old enough to consent is definitely exploitative and abusive.
Everyone, including children, is entitled to his or her privacy. Doing anything other than this is exploitative.
Adult children have the choice to make their own decisons. Most people would not want others to know that they have been sexually abuse.
I think you are walking a dangerous walk accusing a parent of "Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy".
I can't even imagine what I would do if my child was sexually abused and I lost custody of them.
I do think it's extremely wrong for any parent to publish their child's name when allegations of sexual abuse are involved. A parent who does this is abusive, and should have their rights to parent the child revoked immediately.
If the child is an adult, the child has a right to privacy. If a parent really loved the child more then they liked the attention, they would never violate the sacred rights of privacy of their child.
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