Act: I
Why?
Topic:
What is it that goes through the mind of a child when she/he is sexually abused? Most of the time this abuse is perpetrated by someone the child loves and trusts and looks to for protection, a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, or a close friend. Most of the time these abuses are not violent in a way that we understand. Our criminal justice system calls them violent, and justly so for that purpose. But to the mind of a child, it is not violent as they understand it. Abusers use grooming and other techniques to achieve their goal and rarely use actual violence. So when a child comes forward, and we move to protect them they are left with a feeling of guilt and fear.
Characters:
Luce (A girl)
Marietta (A doll)
Mommy
Scene:
A child sits on her/his bed. Surrounded by the things that make them a child, a teddy bear, sheets with childish things, a themed bed, etc. The child looks distraught, maybe crying, maybe just doing the 1000 yard stare off into space, thinking. The child has just come forward with the fact that her/his father has been sexually abusing her/him. The child then picks up one of her/his toys (one that can be used a surrogate ear) and begins talking to it.
Luce:
Marietta, I think I’m in trouble. I can hear Mommy yelling at Daddy and I know it’s my fault. I should not have said anything.
(not loud but as a background noise we hear intermittent arguing. Don’t know what is being said but we know an argument is going on.)
Luce:
Daddy told me not to tell anyone. Was he right?
Marietta:
What did you tell Mommy?
Luce:
(looks around before speaking) (In an audible whisper): I told her what Daddy was doing.
Marietta:
What was he doing?
Luce:
He was touching me on my privates and making me touch him on his privates. I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but he said it was okay. He said it would be our secret. (voice here is fervent, like she is trying to convince herself but is afraid too.)
Marietta:
Then why did you tell Mommy?
Luce:
Because Mommy asked me if anyone had touched me on my privates. I told her no, like Daddy told me to. But she asked me again and I had to tell her the truth. I can’t lie to Mommy, you know that; she always knows.
(can still hear arguing in the background)
Luce:
I wonder what is going to happen? Daddy loves me, I know he didn’t mean to do anything bad. He’d never do anything to hurt me.
Marietta:
Well, what do you want to happen?
Luce:
I think if Daddy stops touching me, then everything will be okay. Then we can be happy again. Right?
Marietta:
(brightly) Right!
(arguing comes to a crescendo. Then a door slams. And there is silence, except for some muffled sobbing. About 5-10 seconds of silence)
(Luce’s door Opens)
Mother:
(softly, with sobs on her breath) Luce, it’s going to be alright. I made your Daddy leave, (voice getting a fierce and angry) and I will never let him hurt you again. Never! (whispers) I will kill him first. (louder) You’ll never have to see him again, because he is going to prison where he belongs.
(Mother closes the door and leaves. Luce sits on her bed and looks kind of bewildered. It is obvious she is trying to sort through what her Mother has just said.)
Luce:
(thinking out loud) Never see Daddy again? He’s going to prison? This is my fault! What am I going to do? This wasn’t supposed to happen. All that was going to happen was that my Mommy would tell my Daddy to stop and everything would be okay.
This is all my fault Marietta. I shouldn’t have told. My Daddy will hate me.
(Luce starts crying and scene fades)
Closing:
(Once scene fades a voice will start at the same time words begin appearing. This will be something of an informative narrative meant to explain the intent of the short and to offer some guidance and resources.)
Narrator:
The facts are that most children are abused by someone they trust and love and not by some stranger. It is also a fact that most sexual abuse of a child does not involve any overt violence or threats. Abusers use a technique which experts call “grooming”. This involves using persuasion and the abuser’s relationship with the child to obtain the child’s cooperation. So that while they know or feel that what is happening to them is wrong, they can justify it in their minds because Daddy loves them and would never do anything that would hurt them.
What this means is that the way that we react when we find out that our child has been sexually abused can greatly affect how a child will deal with the entire process because they will probably not look at what happened to them like an adult. Educate yourself and prepare yourself, not because it will probably happen, but because it is better to be prepared if it does happen.
Resources:
