Adult vicarious victims of child sexual abuse

Abstract

Sexual difficulties are common in adults who were sexually abused as children. By definition, these difficulties affect their partners, who have been referred to a ‘vicarious victims’ of that abuse. This case study illustrates vicarious victimization of both marital partners, neither of whom was directly abused, through the husband's knowledge of his sister being abused by their father. It also illustrates the importance of identifying correctly the underlying automatic, negative beliefs when combining cognitive and behavioural interventions.