The sexually abused child: a critical analysis exploring sexual abuse and its effects. This essay will aim to explore and evaluate sexual abuse and its possible detrimental impacts on a child. Although there is no evidence by any one persons or any data to describe what may account for abuse and what sexual abuse is, there are four main types of child abuse; emotional abuse, sexual abuse , physical abuse and neglect. (NSPCC 2010). The type of abuse that will be closely analysed in this essay is sexual abuse. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term sexual abuse is defined as “unwanted continuous sexual activity forced upon a person by another through coercion or threats.” A similar explanation is presented by Kempe. “Sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of dependant, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent, or that violate the social taboos of family roles.” While these explanations form a foundation of what sexual abuse is with terms such as “dependant” and “informed consent” and “developmentally immature” it suggests that the true nature of sexual abuse however it not yet fully determined. This may be due to the content of sexual abuse coming in many forms. (Kempe, 1978:90) With abuse coming in many forms, sexual abuse also has different forms as suggested by Hansel et al (1998). Child sexual abuse may array from ‘contact’ and ‘non-contact’ offenses. Non-contact offenses include; exhibitionism, a term used to describe genital exposure, voyeurism, this is a form of gaining sexual satisfaction by observing victims in a sexual way i.e. a child undressing, verbal sexual abuse this is where the child is spoken to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ctive and better understanding will be accomplished. Government policies such as the Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan 2011 responded to the maltreatment of children and young people who were violated. In this report, the needs and preventions strategies were established to eliminate child sexual abuse. Reports were prepared for practitioners to help them tackle if a child has been sexually exploited. Furthermore this plan implemented a stronger law on sex offenders claiming that “extra charges will be held against them”. In addition, victims of child sexual abuse “will get the help they need and be supported at all times” (Department of Health 2013) stated that identifying and managing sex abuse immediately was essential to maintain safety. As argued by Talcott parsons “society must ensure an equal balance to ‘function’ correctly and benefit everybody.
An estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today (Darness2Light, 2009a ). This figure continues to grow daily as perpetrators of this crime continue in this destructive path. The definition of child sexual abuse is the force, coercion, or cajoling of children into sexual activities by a dominant adult or adolescent. Sexual abuse of children includes touching (physical) sexually including: fondling; penetration (vaginal or anal using fingers, foreign objects or offenders organs; oral sex, or non-physical contact including: sexual comments; indecent exposures; masturbating in a child’s presence; child prostitution or child pornography (Child Welfare, 2009a).
According to RAINN, (2009) approximately 10 per cent of all victims of sexual assault and abuse are adult and juvenile males. In terms of the nature of assault, real figures include a compendium of reported incidents ranging from unwanted sexual touching to forced penetration. To qualify this statement, it must be understood that the percentage does not reflect a vast number of crimes that go unreported due to issues that will be discussed in the present paper.
It has been suggested that children who are victims of sexual abuse also become abusers themselves. Children of abuse have a higher probability of becoming a future abuser. Child abuse is characterized as any act that jeopardizes or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and growth. These acts include any harm done to a child who cannot be rationally explained and is often characterized by an injury or series of injuries seeming to be non-accidental in nature. The behaviors of child abuse can happen in both boys and girls leaving them with severe lifetime symptoms. Treatment is often necessary for them to overcome the actions done to them, but it is not always successful in curing the mutilation. However, the existence of one sign of child maltreatment does not mean child abuse is occurring within a home. Even with proper education, therapy, and validation one has the probability to become an abuser himself/herself.
Molestation is the first type of sexual abuse that’ll be discussed. Molestation is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Most people think sexual abusers are strangers to their victims. But the truth is most abusers know their victims and use their stand in their relationship to try to make the victims do what the abusers want them to do. Most children who get molest are by family members. “More than 90 percent of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way.” (Snyder, Howard). According to Dr. Elizabeth Forsyth and Margret Hyde, research done in the 1980s and 1990s suggests that almost all abusers are males who are known to their victims and that most abuse occurs within the family. (pg. 21) One in three girls and one in five boys get sexually abused before the age of eighteen. (Arta, C)
Many children who have experienced sexual abuse do not realize the impact it has on their lives. Children are afraid to break the silence about their sexual abuse and report it because of the reaction from parents, family members, or the fear of breaking up the family. Children keep quiet about their sexual abuse because of their involvement and fear of being rejected by others. Children may also keep silent due to the fear of their perpetrator or their perpetrator has trained the child to believe it was their fault. Many children who have never received the proper help will suffer with long lasting effects from sexual abuse. It is very important to counsel children who have been sexually abused at a young age. Sexual abuse can be very harmful in a child’s younger and adolescent years when developing in the ...
The second type of child abuse is sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is defined as acts of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation of minors. Sexual abuse has a wide range of behavior and may consist of many acts over a long period of time or a single incident. The nature of the crime, the shame of the victim, and the involvement of loved ones may make it harder for children to come forward and report abuse. A statistic from Medtwerm.com written by author John Mersch said that sexual abuse is the least reported form of child abuse, accounting for only 10% of all cases (Mersch). Child pornography, child prostitution, or the exposure of a child to sexual acts or things showing sexual acts may also be included in sexual abuse.
Sexual abuse is another type of child abuse. It is any type of sexual activity that a child cannot understand or give consent to. Some examples of this are: fondling, oral-genital contact, genital or anal intercourse, exhibitionism, voyeurism and exposure to pornography (National Council On Child Abuse And Family Violence...) Some signs of sexual abuse are: the child has trouble sitting or standing,...
When we talk about sexual abuse, it is natural for us to think about the sexual abuse happened among adults. Actually, sexual abuse towards children is also very common not only in the United States, but also common around the world. First of all, I am going to explain what child sexual abuse is. Child sexual abuse is the abuse that happens to children before they turned eighteen and usually perpetuated by trusted family and friend instead of strangers. Both touching and non-touching behaviors belong to sexual abuse. It could be difficult for children to give consent or reject the perpetuator because they do not know enough about the sexual activities, or they might be afraid to endanger other people. After the abuse experience, it is unlikely
The most common types of child abuse are physical abuse, mental maltreatment and neglect, and sexual abuse (Olive, 2007). “Physical abuse includes scalding, beatings with an object, severe physical punishment, and a rare form of the abuse called Munchausen by proxy” (National Research Council, 1993, p. 59). Mental abuse is when there is a “continuing pattern of parental behavior that is psychologically destructive to the child” (Olive, 2007, p. 67). Neglect happens when a child is “ignored or left alone so much that their well-being is endangered, yet the parent is able, but fails to provide for their basic needs.” (Olive, 2007, p. 67). Lastly, the most unreported type of child abuse is sexual child abuse. Sexual child abuse is “sexual activity between an adult and a child that is initiated by the adult, and from which the adult receives some sort of sexual gratification” (Olive, 2007, p. 78). ...
Child abuse, while having many different forms and levels of severity, can be basically defined as the maltreatment of a child by a parent or other adult. When one thinks of child abuse, usually the first thing that comes to mind is physical harm, but the issue is actually much more complex. The abuse of a child can also be manifested in verbal and emotional forms, as well as in sexual molestation. All forms of child abuse generally result in similar emotional disorders and behavioral issues, but the major consequences of sexual abuse, such as mental or emotional scarring, promiscuity, and the tendency of former victims to become sexual abusers, cause it to be the most severely damaging form of child abuse.
Sexual abuse includes any sexual act in which one person has not agreed to it. A woman can be sexually abused by means of, but not limited to force, coercion, blackmail, threat, or embarrassment. Sexual abuse may occur when a woman is forced to perform, watch, or in any other way engage in sexual acts. This includes but is not limited to vaginal, anal and oral sex, fondling, touching, disrespect of privacy, such as showering, being forced to watch pornography or view pornographic pictures, being forced into sexual poses, or being verbally abused in a sexual manner (Morris and Biehl 36, Haley 14).
Childhood sexual abuse, as defined by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, 1996), includes using persuasion, enticement, and other inducements to coerce a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct or simulation of sexual acts. Survivors of sexual abuse frequently have a legacy of both psychological and physical problem throughout life. There has been considerable literature published in the past 20 years focusing on the long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse.
Sexual assault is a worldwide epidemic that has long lasting and devastating effects on the victims. The terms sexual abuse and sexual assault are often used interchangeably. Most often the term “sexual abuse” is used when the victim is under the age of 18 and “sexual assault” is used when the victim is over the age of 18. For the purposes of this paper, “sexual assault” will be most often used as this provides a better description of the impact it has on the victims. Women are more often the victim than men; however, all races, cultures, and societies are affected by sexual assault and child sexual abuse (Davies and Jones, 2013). It is nearly impossible to determine exactly how many women have been victimized. There are two primary reasons that make such estimates difficult. First, there are so many different definitions and terms used to describe sexual abuse and assault and definitions vary from state to state (Holcomb and Holcomb, 2011). According to Holcomb and Holcomb (2011, p 27), sexual assault is used as an overarching term, encompassing a large number of sexual behaviors – physical, verbal, and psychological – that violate the health and well-being of an individual. Holcomb and Holcomb (2011) provides their own definition of sexual assault as “any type of sexual behavior or contact where consent is not freely given or obtained and is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of authority” (p. 28). In contrast to Holcomb and Holcomb’s broad definition of sexual assault, many researchers advocate for a more narrow interpretation to prevent over reporting, thus inflating statistics (Holcomb and Holcomb, 2011). The Lancashire Sexu...
More importantly, “60 percent of children who are sexually abused do not disclose and most are acquaintances but as many as 47 percent are family or extended family” (The Scope of, 2016). The prevalence of child sexual abuse is difficult to determine because it is often not reported; experts agree that the incidence is far greater than what is reported to authorities (Child Sexual Abuse, 2012). Startling statistics represent the depth of the issue. Globally, prevalence rates show that a range of 7-36% of women and 3-29% of men experience sexual abuse in childhood (The Scope of, 2016). “The U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report child maltreatment 2010 found that 9.2% of victimized children were sexually assaulted” (Child Sexual Abuse,