Dropped and Dismissed: Seeking Justice and Accountability For Child Sexual Abuse Victims

Reporting child sexual abuse can be a monumental hurdle for survivors, but what happens once it’s reported? What happens when the victims come forward, but the justice system isn’t prepared or willing to do what needs to be done to prosecute perpetrators?

Recently, Tennessee Watson shared her story, a story that many child sexual abuse victims may know all too well. “People who are victims of this kind of abuse often hear a refrain: Come forward and name your abuser. Justice will be done. But we rarely get to hear what happens next. Are most of those cases prosecuted? Do most victims get turned away? I didn’t know what would happen. That’s what kept me from coming forward earlier,” Watson wrote in her story first published on Reveal.

Darkness to Light shared Watson’s story on social media, but there are a few other ways that you can hear directly from her and in her own words.

First, Reveal shared it’s own hour-long podcast of an interview with Watson. As described on their site, “her inside account of the painful process of seeking justice in her own case exposes discrepancies in prosecutors’ responses to reports of child sexual abuse and spotlights a lack of accountability.”

Second, you can check out Watson’s chat with Rachel Martin of NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Darkness to Light applauds Tennessee Watson for sharing her story and giving a voice to the countless other survivors whose stories haven’t been told or prosecuted.

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