WOMEN MOLESTED IN CHILDHOOD

“Evicted doesn’t dwell on it, but the talk of molestation is revealing. No fewer than four characters disclose that they were victims of childhood sexual abuse. The issue doesn’t get much attention in discussions of chronic poverty. But in my own interviews with women on welfare, I’ve found that they mention it with dismaying frequency. Women who were raped or molested as children are more likely to suffer from depression, drug addiction, or domestic violence—all of which interfere with education and employment and drive up poverty rates. It is to [Matthew] Desmond’s credit that he highlights the trauma; it also shows that the problems he’s conveying go well beyond housing costs.”

FOOTNOTE: See Jason DeParle, “Early Sex Abuse Hinders Many Women on Welfare,” The New York Times, November 28, 1999. ↩

Jason DeParle, “Kicked Out in America!” a review in the New York Review (March 10, 2016, pp:25-27) of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond.