VICTIMS AND OFFENDERS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a consequential social problem that affects the society as a whole. Child Sexual Abuse occurs when an adult or adolescent uses a child for sexual purposes and it involves exposing a child to any sexual activity or behaviour (Hay, 1997). According to the Government of Canada (2017), Child Sexual Abuse includes “any sexual contact between an adult and a child under 16 years of age, any sexual contact with a child between the age of 16 and 18 without consent, or any sexual contact that exploits a child under 18”. Moreover, children and youth are more common victims of sexual offences than adults. In 2012 roughly 14,000 children
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One of the factors include that the perpetrators manage to separate the child from his/her family by influencing the child and the people around him/her. In many instances the perpetrator is able to manipulate the child because in a child's world, adults have the power over everything. Therefore, “if the abuser threatens the child or someone the child loves, the child may not question the adult's power to carry out the threat” (Hay, 1997) leading the child to stay distant from the family and making it difficult for the child to disclose abuse. In addition, Abusers use children’s innocence for their own benefit and try their level best to silence them. Physical and emotional abuse is used to take away children’s voice, and sexually exploit them regularly. Moreover, many children do not unveil anything about the abuse or the abuser because they are afraid of the possible consequences of disclosure. Hence, “in order to survive sexual abuse by a trusted family member, children make accommodating efforts to accept the abuse and to keep the abuse secret” (London et al., 2005). Additionally, children who are victims of Child Sexual Abuse often respond with self-blame and self-doubt (London et al., 2005). They believe their actions and behaviours caused the abuse to occur resulting in fear of the perpetrator and the aftermath of disclosure because disclosure is not a linear process (London et al., 2005). According to London et al. (2005) “when children do reveal their abuse, disclosure will be incremental over time, [this] process often includes outright denials and recantations of prior disclosures, and then reinstatements of the
According to London et al. (2005) “ a major problem with relying on children’s statements in forensic investigations is that many sexually abused children remain silent about abuse; they may deny that abuse ever occurred, or they may produce a series of disclosures of abuse followed by recantations of these disclosures” (p.195). Most of this happens because children blame themselves; attempt to make everything better in the family or mothers pressure them to change their
Adults abused as children need to confront the abuse they have experienced. To face and admit that they have been abused, adults should no longer live in denial. As children, they were constantly in denial because they did not realize they were being abused by the people they loved and trusted. Denial, a defense tactic, helps children feel safe away from painful, unpleasant memories. Growing up in denial will result adults abused as children avo...
Perpetrators of child abuse are most often the child’s own parents. A study done in 2005 showed 79.4 percent of perpetrators were parents, and 6.8 percent were other relatives. Almost 1 out of every 100 children in the United States are abused as a child and an average of 5 children die everyday from child abuse (USDHHS). Some cases may be more extreme than others, but child abuse still has a dramatic effect on a person’s life as it continues to affect the victim through their adolescence and into their adulthood. Not only does child abuse affect a person’s relationship life, but structuring them into who they become in life by altering specific triggers in their brain.
According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, an estimated 777,200 children were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect by a protective service agency in the United States in 2008, and 9.1% of these children were determined to have been sexually abused (Draucker, 2011). Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a prevalent problem in the United States that is associated with many long term psychological, behavioral, social and physical effects on men and women (Draucker, 2011). These effects can make a person’s life a living hell. They turn someone into a person that they may not have been if the tragic event didn’t happen to them.
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).
Child abuse occurs in families of all different social classes and of all different cultures. According to the Heritage Foundation, abuse and neglect of American children has increased 134% since 1980 ("The Child Abuse Crisis”). No excuse for child abuse exists. Children are among the most defenseless group of people in society, and to harm those who are defenseless is simply unacceptable. Abusers may make excuses for their actions or even deny they are harming the child, but they are wrong. Child abuse causes significant damage to the victim’s physical and psychological health, the victim’s behavior and social skills, and society as a whole.
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 ...
Child abuse forces children into a position of always being scared and having to “hide the secret”. This prevents children form having healthy relationships
However, these percentages are based on retrospective studies and are founded on reports from victims that disclose their abuse. The book “Stolen Tomorrows” by Steven Levenkron states, "The National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center reports that only 16 percent of adolescent and adult rapes are brought to light. The reports of childhood, toddler and even infant sexual assault are of course much lower..." the consequences that follow the victims of CSA for the rest of their lives are usually so severe that even if only five percent of the population reported abuse it would still be a relevant issue. Childhood sexual abuse affects the development of sexuality, creates problems in developing intimacy and leads to many mood and anxiety disorders that follow victims for the rest of their lives.
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
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
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,
Childhood sexual abuse is a major issue in the world because of the physical and mental abuse that the children deal with is very effective on them. The effects can be last for a long time and affect an entire family. Although it has been an issue for a while society is becoming increasingly more aware of sexual abuse and its effect on child victims. Children of many different backgrounds have been forced to be in unwanted sexual behavior. A lot of issues go unreported because of the embarrassment or denial.