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LAA Interview with Dr. Alison Jackson: Helping to stop child abuse
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Victims of sexual abuse are unfortunately getting younger, as are their perpetrators. Despite the depiction of adolescents as “young adults” in our media, we must remember that they are not. They are children. A 17-year-old assault victim is a child who has been assaulted. The distinction between adults and children is critical. We must remember that the human brain is not fully developed until the early 20s. Although we often use the rhetoric that children are “resilient”, this is not borne out when children are abused. We know that victims who don’t receive the proper treatment are more likely to suffer future abuse and lose their “life momentum”. It is critical, therefore, that we seek out medical treatment when childhood abuse is suspected.
I had the privilege of talking with Dr. Allison Jackson who serves as the division chief of the Child and Adolescent Protection Center of the Children's National Medical Center. She's also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University. For over 19 years Dr. Jackson has been evaluating and treating children victimized by all forms of child maltreatment. In addition to her medical responsibilities, she provides physician leadership to the District of Columbia's multidisciplinary team on child abuse.
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