The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse

As recently as 1970, child sexual abuse was seen as extremely rare and usually harmless. Thirty years later, the mass media regularly covered child sexual abuse, many people who had been sexually abused as children spoke openly about their experiences, and a thriving infrastructure of governmental and private organizations sought to prevent child sexual abuse and remedy its effects. This book tells the story of these changes and the activists who helped to bring them about, and draws powerful lessons about the crucial roles of the self and emotion in bringing about widespread social change.