Sexual Abuse Essay

From the beginning of a child’s life, he/she holds the key to their own destiny. However, this is no longer the case when child sexual abuse is brought in as a factor. In surveys conducted, it was indicated that six percent to sixty-two percent of women and two percent to fifteen percent of men have been victims of sexual abuse as a child (Finkelhor 79). That was not their choice. Abuse is the result of force - not from a person’s willingness to fulfill an act. Victims also have to cope with the aftereffects brought onto them by their attackers. These decisions they had no choice over, but they ultimately set the basis for the rest of their lives. This is because adult survivors of sexual abuse generally have consequences created by violence, misinterpretations of sex, and are more likely to continue the cycle of sexual abuse themselves.
While sexual abuse is often hidden between victim and victimizer, the consequences are clearly seen from an outside perspective. These consequences include both internal and external problems that can be linked back to a past sexual abuse experience. External problems include any self-destructive behaviors an abused child would involve him or herself in. It has been reported that there is an association between the use of illegal substances and forced sexual activity as a child (Diloria et. al). In a study, men who had experienced unwanted sexual activity before their adult years were 1.23 times more likely to report behavioral problems with alcohol and 1.64 times more likely to use interveinal drugs than men that were not involved in unwanted sexual activity (Diloria et. al). This just shows that victimized children turn to drugs to cope with the sexual abuse and to block out the pai...

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...acts as a way to lessen their burden from their abuse.
By cause of sexual abuse most victims suffer from results of violence, misconceptions of sex, and are more likely to become sexual abusers. Victims can have short or long term effects of sexual abuse ranging from trauma to alcohol abuse. Secondly, they generalize sex as something that is a standard in their life and that then leads them to explore it further. Lastly, victims are more likely to become perpetrators in an attempt to overcome the powerlessness they felt when being sexually abused. Every day sexual abuse affects children, both on a physical and mental level. With the choices of one individual, a child’s life can be changed forever. They may wish for a life full of love and happiness, but because of the people surrounding them they unavoidably are handed one full of discomfort and abuse.