“Starting to act different, huh? You ain’t been calling me and hanging out the way we used to hang out.” It may all turn out to be nothing, but Justin Bieber fans and followers are correct in highlighting this old exchange between the pop star who shot to fame at 15 with rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. Diddy was arrested on September 16 on multiple charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering, and sexual assault. Bieber is said to have been mentored by Diddy, the music mogul, during the early days of his career when he was still a child.

The problem with sexual abuse, as suspected in the Diddy-Bieber case, is twofold — the impact and the perpetrator-victim dynamic. Researchers Carly D Larsen, Jonathan G Sandberg, James M Harper, and Roy Bean have demonstrated through their study that “there may be more gender similarities than differences in experiences of childhood abuse and relationship quality than previous research has shown”. There is an increased risk of “developing a variety of mental health difficulties in adult life” in survivors........

© hindustantimes