Cordelia has been working in the
field of sexual harm for nearly 40 years traversing the landscapes of research,
treatment and victim advocacy with a focus on prevention, reduction and
support. Cordelia believes that the best way to prevent sexual harm is to fully
understand its causes, the perpetrators and its victims; we need a holistic,
informed and multi-dimensional approach. In order to develop a shared,
systematic approach to preventing sexual harm we need to recognise that that
what are often seen as different [opposing] sides of the sexual harm field
[treatment providers vs. victim advocates vs. criminal justice professionals
vs. the ‘public’] are not actually opposed, instead they are actually
complementary and we need to get better at drawing them together through
language as well as action. Which means that in order to prevent sexual harm we
need to be able to see the being picture, we have to be able to dance between
the disciplinary ‘puddles’ [like Cordelia has across her career], or get out of
our silos, of sexual harm.
At the core of Cordelias’ work is
the belief that sexual harm is preventable, that we should be working towards
eradicating it rather than just simply reducing it. The language of public
health and health care was used a lot in the interview with Cordelia pointing
out that sexual harm is not a distinct and separate [a one-off occurrence], but
rather connected to a range of social, psychological, cultural and
developmental issues [so part of an eco-system or constellation of issues]. Preventing
sexual harm is tied to public health, criminal justice and social justice; we
need to understand why and how it happens before we can stop it.
Interestingly, using the health
analogy I asked Cordelia if sexual harm could be considered as part of a
disease model like cancer or HIV to which she responded “sexual harm is
endemic, not an epidemic”. She expanded upon this answer by asking me to
consider why society has not responded to sexual harm fully in the past? Why
society is willing to accept that some people will be the victims of sexual
harm? Who controls and directs the conversations about sexual harm? Are we
willing to challenge these individuals, organisations or platforms on the
messages that they convey? We need to examine the social attitudes to sexual
harm and its ‘acceptability’ before we can eradicate it; therefore it seems
that it is both endemic and an epidemic. Although, the eradication of something
so prevalent in society seems like a tall order, or even impossible, she
believes that it is possible if we all work systematically and collectively on
the issue.
In discussing her career Cordelia
points out how far we have come since the 1970’s when sexual harm was not
really discussed [especially in respect to children] to the stage where we are
at now where it is more widely discussed and more fully accepted. She points
out that we know more about the causes of sexual harm and its impact than ever
before, with on-going research and treatment solidifying the base [i.e., the
importance of attachment, the impact of child abuse and neglect on development
across the lifespan, the importance of family dysfunction] as well as revealing
new fields [i.e., attachment, desistence, trauma informed care]. We still have
a way to go to completely eradicate sexual harm; but we are moving in the right
direction and will continue to do so the more that we share information across
our silos.
Cordelia believes that in order
to eradicate sexual harm there are certain actions that we should be carrying
out, or should be happening more often, including, [1.] continuing to breakdown
disciplinary silos so that we can see the big picture; [2.] that victim
advocates and other professionals who work in the field of sexual harm
recognize that they are more effective when they
work together; [3.] that society
has to own the problem of sexual harm, not passing it off to professionals, as
that is the only way that we will eradicate it; and [4.] we have to be critical, constantly
critical, of current approaches to eradicating sexual harm asking whether they
are suitable and/or fit for purpose.
Talking with Cordelia was
interesting and refreshing, especially given that the sexual harm field has
finally caught up to the multi-disciplinary approach to prevention that she has
been advocating for the last 40 years.
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