The Victims 6. Victims of abuse can experience fear, shame, confusion and the violation of their person. They can feel guilty, blame themselves and take responsibility for what has happened. Children and adolescents can suffer distortions in the process of determining their identity as persons. They may find it difficult to trust those in positions of authority or pastoral care or to believe in or trust in God.
Victims can go through a long period of silence, denial and repression.
Other people can refuse to believe them, reinforcing their sense of guilt and shame. The intensity of the effects of abuse on victims will vary. Some of the factors involved are the age and personality of the victim, the relationship with the offender, the duration and frequency of the abuse, the particular form of the abuse, the degree of force used, the threats used to compel secrecy, the degree of violation of trust and abuse of power involved and the reaction of those in whom the victim confides. We recognise that responses to victims by the many Church authorities vary greatly. We express regret and sorrow for the hurt caused whenever the response denies or minimises the pain that victims have experienced.