A comment, after skimming the article. I found the example of the family story (the woman who had been told her uncle died before her birth) very interesting. I wonder whether in the cases of no recall it wasn’t the person who was too embarrassed or who had forgotten, but the entire family who had created a rather elaborate story to make themselves able to cope with the event. When a child is young (even as young as 6), it’s much easier for such a “family myth” to take root. I’ve worked with several families who have created these types of stories and essentially erased what happened.

Also, I would be interested in whether the developmental stage of the victim has anything to do with the recall — eg, if someone is becoming sexually active, or just had a first child, or has reached the same age that they were when they were a victim, is there any greater likelihood of them recalling the event.

Take care. Thanks for adding some substance to my brain!