Guidance for the Church: Theological & Theoretical Perspectives to Supporting CSA Survivors During Disclosure & Recovery Processes: focusing on Underlying ... of Church Hurt and Generational Curses

Sexual violation is not something often discussed within churches or church settings. Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a sensitive topic, taboo in the secular world, but even more taboo in the religious world because it involves the harm of children. Research shows the church community, although beneficial in a lot of ways, has also in many ways been a disservice to sexual assault victims, which is one of the reasons many people, particularly survivors leave the church, after experiencing church hurt. For many survivors their sexually violating experiences are perpetrated by a family member, with many of them having these experiences in the family going back generations, creating generational (ancestral/familial) curses that can negatively affect survivors’ lives and make them vulnerable to experiences of church hurt and repeated victimization. This literary analysis seeks to provide an understanding of how church leadership and the church community can support sexual assault victims, particularly CSA survivors during their disclosure and recovery processes by having an understanding of how survivors and supporters are affected by church hurt and generational (familial/ancestral) curses. Read more