“It impacted me horribly… I had a digestive disorder and PTSD by time I was seven. I was hypervigilant, had nightmares and ran survival scenarios through my mind… It was a struggle to keep myself going every day, and I prayed to die at night, since I couldn't see any other way out… There was a wall of secrets about the abuse that meant I couldn't be close to anyone and made me sure people would recoil in horror from me if they knew… My brother's abuse and how he terrorized me has impacted every day of my life negatively. I don't feel safe.”
– Testimonial submitted by a sibling abuse survivor to the SAARA Story Archive
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, like violence, maltreatment, and events that undermine children’s feelings of safety. These experiences impact functioning across the lifespan, often through the body’s stress response system. Over time, the physical effects and emotional responses to stress take a toll on children’s mental and physical health, which can lead to impacts in adulthood like heart disease and suicide.
Significant numbers of children experience sibling aggression and abuse (SAA) each year and in their lifetimes. In the United States, more than a third of children aged 0 to 17 years old have experienced........