Film On Male Survivors Of Child Sex Abuse Screened At Free Library
By Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Children's Alliance hosted a free screening of a documentary on Wednesday evening about victims of child sex abuse coping and moving forward with their lives.
The showing was at the Parkway Central Library. It featured 'Boys and Men Healing,' a film about three men, victims of child sex abuse.
"We get to see, through watching this film, that it really, truly is possible for all survivors of sexual abuse to heal when they receive the support that they need from the people around them," says Chris Anderson, executive director of MaleSurvivor, an organization helping men who were abused.
Commenting on the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Anderson says it helped raise awareness. He says their organization gets more calls, e-mails and page views from those seeking help. But more must be done.
"One in six boys before the age of 16 are sexual abuse victims," he says. "That's more male survivors in this country than men who have diabetes, 1 in 10, and men who have heart disease, 1 in 8."
He says he felt alone until he was 30, when he finally decided to get help, living with the knowledge of being a victim at 8-years-old.
