TELLING THE SECRET - ADULT WOMEN DESCRIBE THEIR DISCLOSURES OF INCEST

A questionnaire survey of 755 adults sexually abused as children, aski ng about the circumstances of their disclosure to the first person the y told, resulted in 286 responses of which 228 were from female victim s of incest. Individuals were asked basic demographic information, det ails about their abuse, who they first told, the reaction of the first person told, and reasons why they delayed telling or finally did tell . The women in this sample told in three groups. Those telling their p arents first were likely to tell in childhood. A second group telling friends, other family members, or partners were more likely to tell in early adulthood. A third group, those telling therapists, revealed th e abuse at a later age. Those revealing the incest to parents in child hood received a worse reaction than did those waiting until adulthood. When women disclosed to parents prior to age 18, the incest continued for more than a year after the disclosure in 51.9% of the cases. The women in this sample who disclosed as children were likely to be met w ith disbelief or blame rather than with support, validation, and prote ction.