the monitor

Our eight-year-old daughter was molested by a close acquaintance

Dear Gaone ​​​​​​​Please keep our identities anonymous. Our eight-year-old daughter was molested by a close acquaintance. Our hearts are bleeding with pain and we feel for our daughter beyond measure. We have reported the matter to the police, investigations are ongoing. It has been a few weeks since we enrolled our daughter for counselling and so far, she is responding well. We are glad about her positive response to therapy and hope for the best, yet we are concerned about her future. What are the long term effects of sexual abuse on a child?

Dear Anonymous

My heart pours out for you with splendid wishes and emotional healing for your daughter in her best interest. There is a plethora of complexities that may befall a sexually abused child in the long term if such a child is not emotionally healed from the trauma of sexual abuse. These complexities include but are not limited to:

Editor's Comment
BPF should get house in order

Speaker of the National Assembly, Dithapelo Keorapetse, has this week rightly washed his hands of the mess, refusing to wade into a party squabble that has no clear leadership and no single version of the truth.When a single party sends six different letters to the Speaker’s office, each claiming to be the authoritative voice, it is not just confusion, but an embarrassment.Keorapetse is correct to insist on institutional boundaries. Parliament...

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