UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Boz Tchividjian | Mar 20, 2014

Marginalize (verb) To treat a person as insignificant. (Oxford Dictionary)

Derogation – photo courtesy of David Goehring via Flickr
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“He has worked hard to convince everyone that I am crazy.” These were the words of a woman who was speaking about a relative who had sexually abused her as a child for years. This well-known and “respected” relative has been successful in keeping her abuse disclosures ignored for many years by convincing anyone that listens that she is an irrational and troubled individual. After years of being labeled “crazy” and being ignored, this survivor became silent and even found herself struggling with whether or not the baseless label was legitimate. Do you see what happened? A person who is well liked and well-respected in the community is accused of horrific behavior that the community prefers…