Rhetoric on Sexual Assault in Children and its Effect
Sexual abuse in children refers to adult and child interaction that involves children in sexual activities without their consent through coercion or use of force. In the article, “It never stops shaping you: the legacy of child sexual abuse – and how to survive it” published in the Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff, discusses the psychological and emotional effects of sexual abuse in children and their coping mechanisms. Hinsliff also highlights the childhood experiences of sexual abuse and its impact on education, work-life, and relationships. Hinsliff’s article utilizes logos and pathos for persuading readers effectively. However, Hinsliff is unable to immerse herself in the argument through giving moral ethos credibility hence limiting the author’s ability to persuade.
At the beginning of the article, Hinsliff establishes an emotional connection with the reader when she continuously refers to the countless times that Sarah Kaiser – a victim of sexual violence – wrote her name (Hinsliff, 1). Hinsliff achieves pathos when she states, “Sarah is the best,” echoing Kaiser’s remarks, which signify the coping mechanisms that Kaiser learned when she was young. Additionally, Gaby also utilizes pathos when acknowledging the impact of sexual abuse on its victim. For instance, she chooses her words tactfully, which include the use of “worthlessness” and “Shame “to describe the emotional situations that survivors of sexual abuse undergo hence creating a pathos relationship between the author and the readers relating to sexual violence.
Moreover, Hinsliff reemphasizes the meaning of Kaiser’s name by adding a truth project hyperlink next to it (Hinsliff, 2). The pathos created by following the link establishes an emotional connection with the author. The target audience is the government, which is responsible for catering to the needs of sexual abuse survivors. By reading the content of the truth project, the secondary audience – victims of sexual abuse – relates their experience with that of other victims through sharing stories. The truth project platform allows sexually assaulted victims to seek help and be heard (Ingrassia, 572). Furthermore, the use of images in Hinslibff’s article evokes emotional responses of guilt and shame. For example, the article displays Kaiser’s photo captioned with her own words “I felt like a bad child, I thought I was doing something wrong.”
In the article, the Gaby Hinsliff includes a variety of facts and examples which utilize the logos mode of appeal to the audience(Hinsliff, 3). For instance, she describes PTSD, a mental condition that affects survivors of sexual abuse. By stating statistics of mental health cases relating to participants in the truth project, she indicated that 85 % of cases analyzed from the abuse inquiry suffered from anxiety and depression. At the same time, 4 in 10 people experience difficulties in their relationships. She also states how other victims of sexual assault avoided sexual intimacy, suffered from sleeping and eating disorders, and attempted suicide. Therefore through logical explanations, the author informs the reader about the implications of sexual violence in children.
Additionally, Hinsliff adds more evidence on the effects of child sexual abuse. For instance, she indicates the risk of acquiring cancer and heart disease as a result of stress in sexually assaulted victims (Hinsliff, 4). The backing of facts with arguments gives credibility to her arguments, which further persuades the readers. She also compares the attention given to unhealthy eating with that of children suffering from sexual assault. According to Gaby Hinsliff, child abuse has not received the required attention hence exemplifying the situation by adding a hyperlink after Sarah Champions’ statement “For me, this is the most public statement we have.” By following the hyperlink, readers get additional facts on the rising cases of child abuse in Rotherham by 1,500 (Tufail, 6).
Gaby Hinsliff’s article, “It never stops shaping you: the legacy of child sexual abuse – and how to survive, “effectively persuades the target and secondary through logic and pathos mode of appeal. She calls the readers to the action of creating more awareness of child sexual abuse through sharing their experiences with child abuse government inquiry. However, she fails to persuade the readers through the ethos mode of appeal, which would have added more credibility to her knowledge on child sexual assault. In her article, Hinsliff concludes by stating, “If all forms of adverse childhood experiences which include neglect, physical, or sexual abuse get eliminated overnight, the results would be transformative. Public health estimates it could reduce high-risk drinking by a third and cocaine and used by two thirds.”
Works cited
Hinsliff, Gaby. “‘It never stops shaping you’: the legacy of child sexual abuse–and how to survive it.” The Guardian 28 (2018).
Ingrassia, Antonina. “The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in the UK: reflecting on the mental health needs of victims and survivors.” The British Journal of Psychiatry, 213.4 (2018): 571-573.
Tufail, Waqas. “The racialized and Islamophobic framing of the Rotherham and Rochdale child sexual abuse scandals.” The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia (2019).