"Do not make us feel crazy": From otherness to social responsibility toward those who experienced childhood sexual abuse.

Abstract

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been extensively examined as an individual traumatic experience. However, growing evidence suggests that social responses play a central role in shaping how abuse is experienced, interpreted, and addressed. This qualitative study explored how women who experienced CSA make sense of societal reactions to their abuse. Thematic analysis of 28 written testimonies from Jewish and Arab women (aged 21-31) revealed two primary themes. First, participants described a transition from personal to social harm, characterized by pervasive silence, stigmatization, and denial of CSA. These social reactions were found to be particularly intensified among Arab women. Second, the study highlights the women's call for collective social responsibility through concrete actions, specifically broad public awareness and professional training programs that validate the expertise of those who experienced CSA. Participants emphasized that repositioning their lived experience as knowledge is essential for providing children with the language to identify abuse and for ensuring that educational systems respond with recognition. Based on these findings, the study proposes a critical framework that conceptualizes the social experience of CSA through the lens of "othering." This perspective illuminates how societal exclusion produces double harm and identifies how shifting toward knowledge produced by those who experienced CSA can transform social injury into collective accountability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).