The single silver lining in the dark cloud surrounding the Alice Munro debacle is the public response.
At last, the size of the abhorrence begins to approach the size of the crime. When Andrea Skinner mustered up the courage to tell her story in the Toronto Star — a story about being sexually abused by her stepfather, a story of her mother, the world-famous author and Nobel Laureate Alice Munro seeing the crime as infidelity on the part of her husband rather than the sexual abuse of her child — Ms. Skinner turned the tide of a centuries-old aberration. Her article ripped off the veil of secrecy that has protected rapists and pedophiles and created a clarion call to action.
The reaction was swift, harsh, and unforgiving, and that was a first in Canada. Readers, publishers, editors and journalists spoke out, so did book clubs across the country and university professors from coast to coast to coast. Munro’s own alma mater Western University paused the Alice Munro research chair.
That is the small scrap of good news in this hideous crime. As victims know well, there are always 1,001 excuses — she asked for it; he needs help. But now that the public is finally speaking about this too-often-ignored crime, the groundswell leaves no room for excuses.
Child sexual abuse is a crime that has lasting effects on its victims and is usually cloaked in secrecy.
- Jenny Munro
- Andrew Sabiston
- Deborah Dundas, Betsy Powell
Many people knew this story yet chose to turn away. Despite all the forces that sought to silence her, Andrea Skinner did not give up; she has finally told her story. That’s no small feat. She might even have made history. When people speak up, as they have in recent weeks, and say unequivocally, “What happened to you is wrong, what happened to you must not happen again,” they are taking steps toward repairing one of the oldest and most hideous crimes we know.
One might be tempted to take this level of public support for granted. That would be wrong. Remember Roman Polanski who was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1979 and fled the U.S. to avoid jail time? He received an Academy Award in 2003 for best director of the film “The Pianist.” Polanski did not attend the Oscars, but the audience gave the rapist a standing ovation.
There are many other cases of abusers whose crimes are known but who are celebrated nonetheless. Stories like Andrea Skinner’s help bring the truth to light and expose our collective complicity in these crimes.
Why are secrets around child sexual abuse still kept? To save a marriage, to keep a job, to maintain a standing in the neighbourhood, to preserve decorum. Such flimsy reasons in the face of such despicable crimes. The takeaway here is not about Alice Munro — it is about girls all over the world who have had their childhood wrecked and their adulthood scarred. And it’s about a public response that may very well help to end the protective silence.
This is what Andrea Skinner has done with her brave essay — she did a great service to victims and all those around the world who give a damn about what happens to children who need to be rescued.
