Congratulations to our recent graduate, Annalicia Skeete, whose social work research project, " Childhood Sexual Abuse and its Effects on a Woman's Intimate Relations", was accepted for presentation at the Association of Caribbean Social Work Educators 12th Biennial Conference in Grenada, July, 2015. Congratulations to Annalicia on all of your hard work. Annalicia' research was supervised by faculty members Roberta Springer-Proverbs and Jomo Phillips. Read Annalicia's abstract below:

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse is a sensitive yet an irrefutably important phenomenon, which impinges upon the mental, social and physical health of its victims and at times may be so traumatic that it could ultimately lead to death. Previous research has revealed that over one million women worldwide have been sexually abused as children. This problem is not only an international issue, as it also affects females in the Caribbean. Specifically, many victims in Barbados often receive little to no justice and they are few services for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and as a result, many women suffer in silence. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate the effects of childhood sexual abuse on women’s intimate relations in Barbados.

Five women ranging in age from 21 – 30 years old were purposively selected to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and three themes along with several sub-themes emerged. The themes were: unhealthy sexual behaviours, compulsive behaviours and cognitive factors that interfere with sex. The findings indicated that participants engage in unhealthy sexual behaviours such as promiscuity and unprotected sex. In addition, the participants exhibit compulsive behaviours such as excessive masturbation, cigarette addiction, high alcohol consumption and obsessive cleaning. There were also several reoccurring cognitive processes for these women who experienced childhood sexual abuse. The cognitive processes included feeling a sense of no control and helplessness, trust and safety, low self-esteem and viewing sex as meaningless. These cognitive processes negatively affected the women’s view on their self-perception and the world; which consequently influenced their behaviours.

This study has value for several stakeholders including non-governmental organisations, policy makers, researchers, HIV/AIDS related services, child protection authorities, social service professionals and drug rehabilitation programmes. The results will assist these stakeholders to develop effective policies and programmes for women who have been affected by childhood sexual abuse.

Keywords: Women, Interviews, Intimate Relations, Cognitive Factors, Compulsive Behaviours, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Unhealthy Sexual Behaviours