Mother-Daughter sexual abuse: An exploratory study of the experiences of survivors of MDSA using Reddit

•There is a paucity of research regarding Mother-daughter sexual abuse (MDSA), which is a highly stigmatized and misunderstood form of child sexual abuse.•Survivors of MDSA describe feeling guilt, shame, disgust, and confusion.•Survivors described specific abusive behaviors endured as well as the long-term impacts of such trauma.•Reddit provided a space to create community to process trauma, educate, and move towards recovery.•More research regarding MDSA is needed to increase awareness and develop appropriate prevention and intervention resources. The adverse impacts of child sexual abuse (CSA) are well documented in the literature but there is a paucity of research regarding a specific sub-type of CSA referred to as mother-daughter sexual abuse. Mother-daughter sexual abuse (MDSA) is a highly stigmatized and misunderstood form of child sexual abuse. This study examines the nature of MDSA by identifying and analyzing patterns of abuse and the associated psychological impact experienced by survivors. Information was gathered from publicly available social media posts on Reddit. A Google script and Pushshift were used to extract 82 posts and transfer the data into Dedoose for thematic analysis using select computational social science methods. Open and axial coding established a coding framework to develop and understand themes, contextualize the data, and examine the relationships between themes. Survivors describe feeling shame, disgust, and confusion about MDSA. Sexually abusive behaviors by the offending mothers included non-consensual touching, non-consensual vaginal penetration, body shaming, exposure to pornography at a young age, and grooming daughters for abuse by men. Survivors indicated tenuous relationships with their mothers lasting into adulthood, possible mental health disorders of their mothers, and the significant emotional abuse and inappropriate enmeshment. Survivor’s disclosed suffering a range of mental health challenges that contribute to difficulties with interpersonal relationships. Survivors were hesitant to disclose to friends, family, and helping professionals because they fear being misunderstood or judged because of their experiences with MDSA. This study fills a large gap in the literature on MDSA and future studies need to examine how to better support survivors with interventions and resources more specifically. Increased understanding of survivor’s experiences with MDSA will help inform, educate, and raise awareness to ensur