BREAKING THE SILENCE IN A GROUP ON-LINE FACING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Abstract

This article presents an excerpt of the data collected in interviews during online ethnographic research about the disclosure of the experiences of victims of sexual violence in a Facebook group entitled ‘Fight against child sexual abuse’. This study considered the research’s understanding that the reports function as a possible way of breaking the pact of silence and become the basis for the beginning of the psychic trauma elaboration. Interactions in the group were recorded in a field diary during the four-month follow-up period. The data were further analyzed in ten semi-structured interviews with participants contacted through an invitation posted in the group. The interviews were conducted by video call and asked about the meaning they produce when using the group, reflecting on the possibility of overcoming the condition of victims. The use of the platform emerges as a possibility to do something that helps other victims, either by sharing stories or providing information that helps break the abusive cycle. It is observed that each victim deals uniquely with the traumatic event, facing the psychic impacts of the aggression and the moment of disclosure permeated by the family dynamics and power asymmetry. Thus, the need for qualified listening is evident, which enables a subjective reconstruction facilitated by elaborating on what happened.