HYANNIS — One of the most heartbreaking images in a new documentary slideshow about child sexual abuse shows a wavy-haired toddler playing at the edge of the ocean.
The child, whose face is not revealed, is scampering joyfully across the sand. But the viewer knows that the toddler is a victim of a terrible crime, as are all of the children photographed by Carolyn O'Neill for the documentary featuring clients of Children's Cove. The local agency investigates child sexual abuse cases on the Cape and Islands and also counsels victims and their families.
By the end of the week, Carolyn O'Neill's documentary will be posted on the Children's Cove Web site: www.childrenscove.org
In a series of black-and-white images O'Neill captured, children are shown holding pets, riding a favorite skateboard and looking out of a bedroom window.
"These are actual individuals on Cape Cod," Children's Cove director Stacy Gallagher said of the documentary that debuted yesterday at the Resort and Conference Center of Cape Cod in Hyannis during the local agency's ninth annual conference. "Child sexual abuse truly does happen here."
The idea for a documentary was sparked when Kathleen Ecker, a nurse who formerly conducted forensic exams at Children's Cove, was talking with neighbor Carolyn O'Neill of Orleans about her work.
O'Neill, a photographer, volunteered to create a visual record about Children's Cove clients.
Protecting the young victims' anonymity was key. "At first we thought, 'How are we going to do this?' " she said yesterday in a telephone interview with the Times.
O'Neill, whose usual portrait work with families and children relies heavily on capturing facial expressions, decided to express the personality of the children by photographing their favorite activities, hobbies and possessions.
There's a closeup of a girl's hands holding a pet hamster. Another photograph shows a girl sitting on a bed, her face hidden by the bed's canopy. A teen boy is photographed with his skateboard.
"These are just kids, living normal kid lives, doing normal things," O'Neill said. "They are still just children and they are still innocent. These children all have a level of pain inside of them."
The photos in the nearly five-minute slideshow are interspersed with printed words that tell the viewer 1-in-4 girls will be a victim of child sexual abuse by age 18, as will 1-in-6 boys.
"That means in our circle of friends there's a lot of people" who have been affected by child sexual abuse, said O'Neill, who is moving to Bangkok next week. In Thailand, she plans to pursue her commercial photography as well as get involved in documentary work about trafficking in children and women.
The Children's Cove conference continues today for educators, health professionals, social workers and law enforcement personnel, with workshops and a morning address by state Sen. President Therese Murray.
Children's Cove is also known as the Cape & Islands Child Advocacy Center. The facility works closely with several local agencies and organizations including the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office, Barnstable County and Cape Cod Healthcare Inc.
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1 comment:
Sadly child sexual abuse happens everywhere.
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