Psychiatrist: It takes tremendous courage for a victim to talk about sexual abuse
ROCKVILLE, Md. (ABC7) — With new sexual assault allegations seemingly coming to light every day, people are talking about the topic everywhere from social media to the dinner table. It’s a conversation that Dr. Bruce Kehr, President of Potomac Psychiatry, calls “incredibly important.”
“Hopefully this will spark a prevention of some of the likely future events and put men on warning that no matter how powerful they are, how much money or social prestige they have, that they can’t get away with an abuse of that power,” Dr. Kehr said.
“I think it’s a good thing that it is coming out, finally,” said Tsiyona Nitsan, a Gaithersburg, Maryland resident.
Dr. Kehr says it takes tremendous courage for a victim to talk about sexual abuse.
“I think for any woman who is in a position like that, to hear other women coming out, can help give them courage and less of a feeling of aloneness,” he said.
“It’s a good therapeutic situation because people are going to realize they’re not alone,” Nitsan said.
People are, perhaps, realizing they are not alone as more high profile names in the media continue to make headlines.
“Everyday discussion in my house!” Said Danielle Smith, a Rockville resident. “We do discuss this a lot.”
Seeing campaigns like the ‘#MeToo’ movement on social media, Dr. Kehr says, can be beneficial.
“It’s really important that women come to feel safe and have a voice and not have to live with these kinds of experiences, so I really hope it becomes a kind of movement,” Dr. Kehr said.
