Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Sexual abuse and its effects on the education of a child
The impact of childhood sexual abuse essay
Effects of child sexual abuse
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Sexual violence against children and adolescents is a major global health problem. According to data gathered by Save the Children and the agency’s experience in conflict-affected areas 80% of children living in areas of conflict or disaster are affected by sexual abuse, which is estimated to be over 30 million children. Additionally, likely perpetrators are from government armed forces and non-state armed forces and civilians (Save the Children Fund, 2013). Studies from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Columbia and the Central Africa Republic estimate that between 52% and 70% of sexual violence cases involved mostly girls 18 years and younger although, boys can also be the victims of sexual violence (Save the Children Fund, 2013). Sexual violence is an umbrella term for a variety of harmful and sexually abusive behaviors. Sometimes this term is referred to as gender-based violence (GBV) which specifically encompasses the scope of sexual abuses in conflict and post-disasters against women and children. In the literature there are many definitions of sexual violence. For this grant application, the definition of sexual violence is “all forms of sexual abuse, exploitation, assault, pornography, prostitution, trafficking for sexual purposes, sex tourism, early and forced marriage and enslavement” (Save the Children Fund, 2013; ECPAT International, 2006). It occurs among both females and males. Although reporting of sexual violence against male children is low, Azil strongly enforces the inclusion of all children despite gender (Save the Children Fund, 2013; ECPAT International, 2006). Additionally, the definition of disasters is both conflict-affected areas (war, genocide, etc.), an e... ... middle of paper ... ...College Student Development, 40, 132-140. Rao, T.S.S., Nagpal, M. & Andrade, C. (2013). Sexual coercion: time to rise to the challenge. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 211-213. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.117125. Save the Children (2013). Unspeakable Crimes Against Children: Sexual violence in conflict. The Save the Children Fund. Retrieved from http://reliefweb.int/report/world/unspeakable-crimes-against-children-sexual-violence-conflict. Spangaro, J., Adogu, C., Ranmuthugala, G., Davies, G.P., Steinacker, L. & Zwi, A. (2013). What evidence exists for initiatives to reduce risk and incidence of sexual violence in armed conflict and other humanitarian crises? a systematic review. PLoS ONE 8(5): e62600. doi:10.1371/journal.phone.0062600. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2005). Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice – Second Edition. NIH.
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.
Tannahill, A., Tannahill, C., & Downie, R. S. (1999) Health Promotion. Models and Values. Oxford University Press.
Every two minutes someone in the world is being sexually assaulted or raped. In our generation, teenagers, use the words “ you’re raping me” to rough play with one another, the serious concept of rape is then minimized to light teasing; when in reality, rape physically and emotionally scars a person. There are ten different types of rape- sexual assault, child sexual abuse, drug facilitated assault, obsessive/ sadistic rape, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, stranger rape, and partner rape. There are many laws against rape but many rape cases are not reported one of the first Rape Crisis Centers were established in 1974 to help women and men in their communities. However, rape is not given enough importance in this society. This is a big issue for vulnerable children, women and men.
Sexual abuse cannot be clearly defined with ease. In fact, sexual abuse is an umbrella term for any sort of situation, whether or not it involves physical contact, in which a sexually immature child is exposed to anything sexual in nature. Because no child is psychologically mature enough for sexual stimulation, the complex feelings associated with it are mentally and emotionally disfiguring. Children who have been sexually abused experience an array of negative emotions such as shame, guilt and anger, and may display oddly withdrawn or distrustful behaviors. They cannot help but feel that they somehow brought the abuse unto themselves (Saisan, et al). One major contributing factor to these severe psychological consequences is the concept of trust. Sexual abuse is, in most cases, committed by a parent or other trusted adult figure. While children are naïve on such adult topics, they can still get an overwhelming feeling that the attention is wrong, yet they are unsure of how to cope with it. If the child has an emotional atta...
Health promotion is a multifaceted movement with a core value on respect, empowerment, equity, inclusion and social justice (MacDougall 2002). Aims to achieve holistic health, while it is influenced by medical and social determinants. These determinants which aids to deter...
UNICEF (2013), Female Genital Mutilation: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, New York.
Cohen, B. (2012). Population health promotion models and strategies. In L. Stamler & L. Yiu
Adolescents and children are capable of committing serious sex offenses in spite of their immaturity. Sexually abusive behavior includes but is not limited to non-conta...
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) constitutes a very small amount of cases, but nonetheless it is extremely detrimental for children. Studies evaluated the consequences of childhood sexual abuse and revealed that such traumatic experiences can harm the child physically, psychologically, and emotionally. The disturbing experiences can also negatively impact the child during their adolescence and adulthood. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes child maltreatment as physical and emotional abuse, negligence, and commercial or other exploitation of children (Smallbone, Marshall, & Wortley, 2011). Unfortunately, there is no reliable and valid definition exclusively for Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) (Collin, Daigneault, & Hébert, 2013; Smallbone, et al., 2011). Among practitioners and scholars, the consensus is that childhood sexual abuse is an acute social problem that needs to be brought to light even though ambiguity over the definition exists (Collin et al., 2013; Smallbone et al., 2011). Because of the collective awareness, several research studies have been done on the resiliency or protective factors that prevail among victims of crime (Ager, 2013). Some childhood development studies defined resilience as a set of protective factors that CSA survivors use to escape their trauma and achieve positive adaptation ( Luthar, Cicchett & Becker, 2000; Walsh, Dawson, & Mattingly, 2010). Luther stated:
When thinking about statistics on child abuse, it’s very helpful to know that the idea of “child abuse” is very controversial. Recently, in particular homes and cultures, child abuse has come to be seen as a major social problem and a main cause of many people’s suffering and personal problems. Some believe that we are beginning to face the true prevalence and significance of child abuse. There is more to child abuse than just the physical scars; children are affected socially, mentally, and emotionally. According to the American National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, in 1997, neglect represented 54% of confirmed cases of child abuse, physical abuse 22%, sexual abuse 8%, emotional maltreatment 4%, and other forms of maltreatment 12%.
Edelman, C. L., & Mandle, C. L. (2010). Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span (7th ed.). St.Louis, Missouri: Mosby Elsevier.
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,
Skinnider (1998) found that violence against children is “deliberate behavior by people against children that is likely to cause physical or psychological harm” (p. 1). With that said, violence against children involves a variety of actions worldwide stemming from ancient times. Lampinen and Sexton- Radek (2010) wrote that they exhausted a profuse amount of time hunting for plausible solutions regarding the disappearance and abuse of children.
Many different psychological and physical tests can be done on victims of sexual abuse to help accurately understand their situations and how they have been affected by them. Though most sexual abuse case examinations are too difficult to get accurate statistics on, being there is so many variations in severity, age, circum...