the lonely spinster that i am, bought a book yesterday to accompany me for the start of solitary darkness for 2 days. ;)
ok dramatics aside.
anyway, i bought a book called 'damage ' by cathy glass. man, the synopsis was slightly misleading, at least to me. i thought i was going to have an insightful read about fostering, since the author was a foster mother and she was discussing her experiences with a particular child.
warning, spoilers ahead.
what a sheltered world i live in. in my horror of horrors, i never imagined the trauma and abuse one can inflict on an innocent. a mere child of 8, with the abuse beginning as early as 18 months.
18 bloody freaking months! that's like a baby!
anyhow, the story unravelled, about the plight of this little monster. and monster she has become, because of all the infliction. masturbation in public, 'playing' with her dolls in that way, screaming matches, smearing of faeces, split personalities ranging from baby like to masculine, poor development, hallucinations, flirtations with the opposite sex ( yes at 8 , if u want to be technical, 7 plus )
initially, i almost thought the book was about a little girl possessed. after all, it must be the darkest of evils to turn a sweet child into something of an anomaly. and i got a bit freaked, because it was dead in the night, and the book was supposed to be lullaby like to lull me to sleep!
and with all the role playing she was getting into, i thought it was a case of several demons being in her, since she was utttering phrases such as 'kick you to death, bitch, piss off, fuck off '
i was expecting something along the lines of a difficult child entering a home, and with much attention and love, blossomed into a cute little child who put her horrible childhood behind her.
instead, what i read were the workings of sick minded adults. and yes u read right, it's with a bloody plural. she was the subject of being a pleasure object for people who love kids in the sickest sense of the word.
it wasnt only a paedophile, but a paedophile ring.
i have trouble finding people with the same interests such as table tennis, and these people can so easily form a ring? a ring! bloody hell! that takes all the romance out of a wedding proposal for me now!
anyway, her DADDY, and i say it in the most scathing and sarcastic way of all, was head of that stupid ring. she named others, such as grandpa this and uncle this. not blood-related, but sick-minded related. she related accounts of oral sex in the most matter of fact way, taking pictures involved stripping, she believed that these dirty deeds were normal.
her story has not concluded yet of course, because she is so young. she is currently residing in a residential unit receiving therapy but i'm not sure of any improvement. her foster mum had to give her up because her disorders were too severe and professional help had to step in.
all i can say is, i applaud all who are patient enough to work with children.
and the ring can go wring themselves.
