The students were from different cultural economic backgrounds. Some students were placed in the schools at six years of age and remained there until eighteen. I had the privilege of meeting, interviewing and photographing each of these men and their families. As I shared the pain of my child sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy the climate of safety was created and their sharing stretched my levels of courage to its limits. I have images of men next to the photographs of the little boys they once were.
Some men have no photographs of themselves as children.
The absence of this image speaks louder to me . . . . Once they were all vulnerable children. Sexual abuse to children is not confined to institutionalized environments. It happens wherever there is an imbalance of power and lack of respect for human dignity. The misuse of power knows no economic or social boundaries.