Abuse survivor offers tips for alternative punishments
Esther Joseph doesn’t need to read studies or statistics to understand the problems of child abuse. She survived it.
Joseph, an advocate against corporal punishment in the home, spent her childhood alternately suffering physical abuse from her mother and emotional abuse from her father. But she doesn’t consider herself a victim.
“I’m a survivor of child abuse,” said Joseph, author of Memories of Hell, Visions of Heaven—A Story of Survival, Transformation and Hope (unityinherited.com). “In overcoming the damage of an upbringing riddled with violence, I was adamant that I would not grow up to be an abuser as well. I know the dangers of striking a child to discipline them, and then explaining that you’re doing it for their own good and because you love them. All that does is teach the child that violence is an acceptable part of love, and as they grow up, they accept violence in their adult relationships because they’ve been taught that it’s completely normal.”
Words by Esther Joseph
Photograph by Kariz Favis
To read the whole story, grab a copy of BC Magazine's October 2011. For more information, call 478-4172 or email info@bcmedia.ph.Joseph, an advocate against corporal punishment in the home, spent her childhood alternately suffering physical abuse from her mother and emotional abuse from her father. But she doesn’t consider herself a victim.
“I’m a survivor of child abuse,” said Joseph, author of Memories of Hell, Visions of Heaven—A Story of Survival, Transformation and Hope (unityinherited.com). “In overcoming the damage of an upbringing riddled with violence, I was adamant that I would not grow up to be an abuser as well. I know the dangers of striking a child to discipline them, and then explaining that you’re doing it for their own good and because you love them. All that does is teach the child that violence is an acceptable part of love, and as they grow up, they accept violence in their adult relationships because they’ve been taught that it’s completely normal.”
Words by Esther Joseph
Photograph by Kariz Favis
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