It's widespread in asian families where the parents grew up poor. Kids are abused by their parents, who were abused by their parents, who...
It's not uncommon for aunts/uncles to turn a blind eye to child abuse. They just don't care because they see it as some sort of rite of passage, or because they view it as something that could never compare to the horrors of the motherland.
My father beat me so I went to my uncle (non-blood) for help and you know what I got? Another ass beating. The culture just doesn't view it as abuse unless you end up in the hospital, because at least you aren't starving to death.
Like the OP, I was also abused as a child. Both of my parents would verbally and physically abuse me. My mother would constantly yell at me and occasionally hit me. My father would verbally abuse me, beat me with a rolling pan, and sometimes my mother/sister when they stepped in between. We have plenty of broken bones and scarring between us. The beatings only stopped when I was old enough to physically fight back.
Video games and reading were my only solace, so I didn't exactly turn out normal. I'm a male who spends all day indoors, has trust issues, and never really embraced gender norms.
This experience builds a thick layer of skin, but it's still pretty shocking to see how easily parents are persuaded to obtain prescription medication and gender affirming surgery for their teenage kids. Sure, many of them may benefit from the medication/procedure. But for those who make a mistake with their gender transition, they will end up carrying more baggage than me.
It's not uncommon for aunts/uncles to turn a blind eye to child abuse. They just don't care because they see it as some sort of rite of passage, or because they view it as something that could never compare to the horrors of the motherland.
My father beat me so I went to my uncle (non-blood) for help and you know what I got? Another ass beating. The culture just doesn't view it as abuse unless you end up in the hospital, because at least you aren't starving to death.