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 …show more content…
Author Hornor argues that children being sexually abused respond differently by stating “Not every child reacts to sexual abuse in the same manner.” Additionally, she argued that boys and girls deal with the impacts in various ways by stating “Boys and girls cope differently with the stressor of sexual abuse. Girls are more likely to exhibit internalizing behaviors, such as depression and disordered eating …. Externalizing behaviors such as delinquency and heavy drinking are more likely exhibited by boys.” (Hornor 2010) However, even though she stated the different reactions among boys and girls, she just mainly concentrated on the effects for girls. From the list of effects she mentioned (including Psychiatric disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, substance abuse), she only focused on the internalized consequences that affect the victims themselves. I argue that the author did not include any deep explanation about externalized behaviors led by the abuse, as well as the effects to the victim’s offspring. The babies are usually premature if their mothers experienced sexual abuse, and the mothers are usually teenagers. Most of the results are only focusing on the female, which left out the things that could happen to male. When we …show more content…
He argued this by saying “Children taught by both parents and teachers demonstrated greater gains in knowledge …. Children who were taught by the programme both at home and school were better able to recognize inappropriate touch requests and to demonstrate higher levels of personal safety skills compared with children taught only at school.” (Kenny 2008) He argues that it is important to make children aware of sexual abuse starting from a young age and learn how to protect themselves from the perpetrator. This is supported in his article by saying “Just as it is important for parents to teach their children about traffic and fire safety, it is equally important for them to teach their children about personal safety.” (Kenny 2008) The author noted that there are self-protection programs that are designed for children, and he described the positive and negative impacts to the children. Although the author provided a lot of information about the ways that adults can do to help children prevent child sexual abuse, the data were collected from the articles are outdated; most of the information are over ten to twenty years. I argue that the situation might be different nowadays compare to the past, things could
The importance of growing up in today’s society and being educated about sexual abuse is an important aspect of knowledge everyone should have. Many parents also do not recognize the warning signs from their children early on to prevent them from turning into something bigger.
...ng one side of the story when it comes to the effects of child abuse on children. There is so much more that we don’t understand about the ramifications that we should be aware of. Neither of these studies shows both sides of the issues, but in combination both show a better overall picture to both sides. In conclusion, I think that both articles were well written and got their points across. I do however think there is an overall issue that we don’t understand sexual abuse to children and how to prevent it.
Child Abuse is something that children all around the world have to deal with every day. Child abuse can cause physical and mental affects on a child. It occurs very frequently and can happen for many different reasons. There is a law now stating that reporting child abuse is mandatory and you should report it immediately. There are thousands of child abuse victims every year. The abuse usually can leave permanent damage on the rest of the child's life. Child abuse is a very serious crime, and affects children everyday with positive and negative affects.
On the news stories of girls being raped, killed, and dumped air frequently. This act happens more than it should, if possible it should never happen. In families it happens every day of their life. Sexual abuse occurs, for most victims, with someone they know. “Any situation in which you are forced to participate in unwanted, unsafe, or degrading sexual activity is sexual abuse. Forced sex, even by a spouse or intimate partner with whom you also have consensual sex, is an act of aggression and violence. Furthermore, people whose partners abuse them physically and sexually are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed” (Smith and Segal).
This paper outlines the consequences of child sexual abuse (CSA) based on the examination of results from multiple researches previously fulfilled concerning the psychological and physical impact of this crime, information of statistics, warning signs detected, victims’ performances, and emotional state. Sexual abuse causes severe trauma on child victims that will last for the course of their lives, therefore it is critical to identify and improve the therapeutic methods utilized to treat CSA survivors.
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.
Within the last few decades there has been an increase in public awareness concerning child sexual abuse. Child abuse is defined as intentional acts that result in physical or emotional harming. However most people don’t understand that there are different forms a child abuse; they include physical, neglect, and sexual abuse. Child abuse is widespread, one that most topics people would rather not think about. For the longest time individuals have been in denial because it’s easier when everyone believes that they live in a perfect world.
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).
online) “Child abuse” may also be defined as “a crime of inflicted physical or emotional
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)
Child abuse is a serious issue in today's society. Many people have been victims of child abuse. There are three forms of child abuse: physical, emotional, and sexual. Many researchers believe that sexual abuse is the most detremental of the three. A middle-aged adult who is feeling depressed will probably not relate it back to his childhood, but maybe he should. The short-term effects of childhood sexual abuse have been proven valid, but now the question is, do the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse affect middle-aged adults? Many contradicting views arise from the subject of childhood sexual abuse. Researchers and psychologists argue on this issue. Childhood sexual abuse has the potential to damage a child physically, emotionally, and behaviorally for the rest of his or her childhood, and the effects have been connected to lasting into middle-aged adulthood.
Children have an unconditional trust for their parents the moment they are born. This trust is generalized to many adults; however, some seemingly trustworthy adults can be the most dangerous by taking advantage of a child’s innocence. Cruise (2004) states that most children know their perpetrator and feel comfortable in their presence. Breaking such a genuine trust causes lifelong detrimental consequences. Childhood sexual abuse has many definitions, but Collin-Vézina, Daigneault, and Hébert (2013) define it “as any sexual activity perpetrated against a minor by threat, force, intimidation, or manipulation” (p. 7). Despite the form of sexual abuse, children are not developmentally prepared physically or emotionally to see, hear or experience this type of act. Although adults view childhood sexual abuse as a clear violation of boundaries, children may not completely believe it is the perpetrators fault. Children can have a multitude of beliefs such as they deserve the abuse, the abuse it their fault, and that abuse is a way that the perpetrator shows love. Unfortunately, many children do not talk about the abuse, so parents and guardians need to be aware of the warning signs that sexual abuse is possibly occurring.
A three-year-old child approaches the court bench and places her hand over the Holy Bible, swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She takes a seat at the witness stand while clenching her stuffed animal in her small innocent arms. She gently brushes the bouncy blonde curls from her face as she looks into the eyes of her rapist. For one so small, she is quite strong. I am proud to admit that I was this little girl, and I am a survivor.
One of the most obvious and damaging results of child abuse is death; however, research illustrating the effects on a growing child who has been abused has demonstrated many other lifelong negative factors (Felitti, Anda, Nordenberg, Williamson, Spitz, Edwards, Koss, Marks, 1998). In consonance children who suffer from abuse can show signs of depression, social withdraw, and even violent behavior. As a child grows older, they may suffer from poor physical health, such as high blood pressure, obesity, stress, and psychological disorders and disabilities (Herronkohl, T., Hong, Klika, and Herronkohl, R., 2013). Child abuse and neglect have also been associated with depression, anger disorders, and post-traumatic
Child abuse is a very serious problem that continues to happen all over the world. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, defines child abuse as a failure to act as a parent or caregiver which results in physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, and in some cases death. There are many different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, neglect, and sexual. With each type of abuse there are warning signs you can spot before it is too late. When a child is abused there is a huge possibility that it can cause them to have many long term effects.