RCIS

Abstract:

Research on childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in Indonesia has predominantly focused on immediate psychological impacts, leaving a significant gap in understanding how survivors navigate long-term trajectories in the absence of early protection. This study explores how social and institutional responses shape the lives of adult survivors who received little or no formal intervention during childhood. Using a qualitative life-history design, we analyzed in-depth narratives from eight adult survivors, triangulated with perspectives from eleven significant persons, to examine the interaction between family responses, cultural norms, and institutional practices across the life course. Findings reveal that CSA initiates a trajectory of systemic betrayal and familial silencing, where the cultural construct of aib (shame) enforces social silence and hinders early disclosure. These experiences coalesce into a persistent condition described as “living in survival,” where trauma is reactivated during key adult transitions, such as intimacy and parenting, rather than being resolved. The study conceptualizes survivors' adaptive strategies as “navigational competence,” reflecting a context-dependent resilience within fragmented protection systems. We argue that recovery is not a linear therapeutic outcome but a socially negotiated process requiring long-term, ecologically sensitive social work interventions. The findings call for a policy shift in Indonesia from crisis-based models toward sustained institutional accountability and relational accompaniment that addresses the structural conditions of silence across the life course.

Keywords:

childhood sexual abuse; adult survivors; life-course perspective; social and institutional responses; recovery; Indonesia.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33788/rcis.92.10

Download: Living in Survival: Social and Institutional Shaping of Life Trajectories of Adult CSA Survivors in Indonesia