Theatre helps child sexual abuse survivors move on
NEWDELHI:Memories, conflicting and confusing emotions, are some of the demons that haunt survivors of child sexual abuse, calling for help and “Positively Shameless” comes at that juncture, as a “devised theatre performance about surviving childhood sexual abuse and working through the residues as an adult.”
Performed by five women, who have survived child sexual abuse, the play not only worked to create awareness about a personally and socially relevant issue, but also provided an avenue for the actors and audiences to express and examine their emotions and feelings in a safe environment.
“Every story we have used here is true. But we are not necessarily always acting out our own stories. It can get a little too close for comfort if we do our own stories,” said an actor.
The five actors, who are based out of Bengaluru, had all been a part of the director, Maitri Gopalakrishna’s, drama therapy workshops, conducted as part of her PhD thesis. “After the therapy, some of us wanted to take it forward,” explained the actor.
“Drama therapy has many forms and functions. One is of course catharsis, where one can release their emotions and get relief. The other way it helps is to make sense of the sometimes jumbled and confusing event, as theatre does not have to be linear,” said Gopalakrishna.
The Delhi Police south district had organised a staging of the play on Friday at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. “This is an area which is yet to be explored. Normally, we talk about women’s issues, domestic violence, and drug abuse. But we realised that around 50% of people had experienced some sort of inappropriate behaviour as a child. This is a problem that surpasses all divides and it needs to be dealt with,” said an officer.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest