Survivors feel a sense of guilt for failing to protect themselves from sexual abuse – Advocate

Survivors of sexual abuse often grapple with guilt and emotional distress, sometimes blaming themselves for failing to prevent the abuse, a survivor advocate, Amtu Akumfi-Ameyaw, has said.

She said those feelings could become more painful when trusted adults, including teachers and housemistresses expected to offer protection, failed to provide the support survivors needed.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, October 19, Ms Akumfi-Ameyaw, co-founder of On This Side, a survivor-focused initiative, said the allegations of sexual abuse involving female students of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) had brought back memories of why it took her so long to speak about her own experience.

The allegations are the subject of investogative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni’s documentary, Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow. It examines alleged sexual abuse involving female students at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.

Click here to Watch the documentary.

“I don’t know if I should cry. I don’t know if I should scream. I’m having, like, mixed feelings,” she said, describing her reaction to the developments.

She explained that survivors could feel disappointed in themselves after someone violated their personal boundaries, believing they should have been able to protect themselves.

“So there’s a certain level of supposed guilt that you have that you couldn’t protect yourself from abuse,” she said.

Ms Akumfi-Ameyaw said the situation could become even more distressing when people survivors trusted to help them were unable to offer the necessary support.

When trusted adults fail

The advocate identified teachers, housemistresses and other school authorities as people students might naturally turn to when they experienced abuse.

However, she said the failure of such trusted figures to respond appropriately could reinforce survivors’ feelings of guilt and leave them questioning whether their experiences mattered.

She said hearing people laugh about or trivialise alleged abuse could deepen that emotional burden.

The response survivors received after disclosing their experiences was therefore critical, she suggested, because it could affect their willingness to continue speaking out.

Ms Akumfi-Ameyaw said some survivors who initially disclosed their experiences might later withdraw their accounts because of the personal struggles they faced.

“And it’s the reason why you would actually even have some people come out to say their stories and eventually change their mind and say that you know what, everything was a lie. It never happened,” she said.

She added that survivors were often dealing with difficult emotions that others might not fully appreciate.