Child Sexual Abuse and Child Pornography

In the United States today studies show that “1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused before the age of 18” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). Therefore that would mean 42 million adults are survivors of child abuse right here in the United States. Among these children there are 73% of children who do not tell anyone for a year, and many who never tell anyone (The Children’s Assessment Center). If we do not intervene many would say 500,000 babies will be born and sexually abused by the age of 18. It is important is it to be educated in the signs and symptoms of adult and child sexual abuse and getting involved in our own communities to stop this vicious cycle. You may or may not be a social worker or therapist but everyone can help an adult or child just by caring enough to stop and recognize the clues (The Children’s Assessment Center).

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse, this also includes via the internet. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males, Women and other children can also commit acts of sexual abuse. This type of abuse is usually committed by someone known to the victim not just by sexual predators. It is important to remember that boys as well as girls can also be the victim of sexual abuse. The signs of sexual abuse as with emotional abuse may not be outwardly visible, because of the shame and self-blame a child will have if this is happening or has happened to them, makes it very difficult for a child

Trafficking of children involves recruitment, transportation, etc. of children for the purpose of exploitation. Commercial sexual exploitation of children includes child prostitution and child pornography. IOM

Many experts agree that pedophiles develop a sexual interest over a long period of time. Most commonly pedophiles are subject to some form of sexual abuse or trauma at a young age. Other common reasons are abuse or some other related problem during sexual development, as a result they develop an interest in children as sexual objects. According to some of the pedophiles arrested they stated that they developed an interest in children as sexual objects as a result of seeing such images over the internet

It should be noted that statistics show that 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age 18; 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18; 1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the internet (Darkness2light, 2009c). Also children who are ill, disabled, or otherwise perceived as different are more likely targets of abuse(Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2009).

However, there are many more ways that a child may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, and these are outlined in a report by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.

The American Psychiatric Association 's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) characterizes pedophilia as intermittent sexually stirring dreams, rash cravings, or practices including sexual acts with a kid and that happen over a time of no less than six months. Much of the

Pedophiles have been around for centuries in all different forms: male, female, young, and old. They can also be found everywhere: school districts, colleges, in the workplace, daycare centers, church, and even in a home. A lot of the time, it is difficult to pick them out in a crowd because they are normal, everyday people. To be qualified as a pedophile, someone has to be at least sixteen, have sexual feelings for a child usually under the age of thirteen for at least six months, and be a minimum of five years older than the child(ren). They also have to either act on the sexual feelings or struggle keeping their feelings to themselves. Contrary to this, there is always an exception to every rule. If an older teenager has been in a decently long relationship with a child twelve or thirteen, they are excused from being a pedophile (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

When properly defining pedophile, one must understand the characteristics of a pedophile. Pedophiles target prepubescent children with a general age limit of about thirteen. In the book Moral Panic: Changing concepts of the Child Molester, Phillip Jenkins writes, “Pedophile is properly defined as someone sexually interested ‘in a prepubescent child (generally age thirteen years or younger) the word is popularly extended to a man who carries out a sexual act with an adolescent, making him a ‘molester’, a ‘baby-raper’”(8). A pedophile’s sexual actions target children and not specifically those of the same sex.

With child abuse and neglect being so prevalent globally, it is important to recognize why these types of maltreatment occur and is a relevant topic for all to explore. Many are interested in how child abuse and neglect affect the individuals who are victims as well as the use and efficacy of treatment procedures. Child abuse has serious physical and psycho-social consequences which adversely affect the health and overall well-being of a child. There are long-term consequences of experiencing these forms of maltreatment. Awareness and understanding needs to be brought to this devastatingly common crisis and the advancement of child abuse and neglect prevention needs to be encouraged.

Child sexual abuse can be described as any form of sexual activity with a child by an adult, with or without consent. According to the Employment of Educators Act Sexual contact between educators and learners is illegal regardless of the

Sex crimes include acts considered as either sexual abuse, or a non-tolerable behavior considered inappropriate to social norms. The law forbids certain sexual acts, despite expressed consent from both parties. Sex laws vary from region to region, and may evolve over time. Furthermore, sexual acts forbidden by law in a proscribed jurisdiction are coined as sex crimes.

Child pornography has been present in society for centuries, but has only recently become more accessible through the development of the printing press and subsequently, the technology of the Internet. Until the mid-1990s, "illegal child pornography [had only] involved depictions of actual children engaged in sexually explicit

There are many forms of child abuse. Not only can children be physically abused, but they are also in danger of experiencing sexual abuse. In the more recent years, child sexual abuse has come to the attention of a larger part of society. As such, it is becoming more openly discussed. Child sexual abuse is a growing problem, and the stories that have begun to circulate around the world work to illustrate just how serious the problem is. Despite what society is lead to believe, the sexual abuse of a child is the least common out of all forms of child abuse. Out of the different types of child abuse, neglect is the most common, followed by physical abuse, and then sexual abuse comes at the bottom. Still, of all the cases of child abuse reported to and substantiated by authorities, approximately 15% of them concerned sexual abuse. ). It is possible that there are more cases of child sexual abuse, however, and they simply are not being reported. Due to the number of undisclosed cases of child abuse, researchers have conducted various prevalence studies over the years to determine the true number of sexual abuse of children. These studies have determined that around 20% of women and 5-10% of men in America in were sexually abused as children. A great deal of controversy surrounds the number of male victims of child sexual abuse, due to a lack of quality studies. The problem with prevalence studies is that they don 't all share the same definition of abuse, nor do they share

With child prostitution comes child pornography. Child pornography is the exploitation of children for sexual stimulation. It may produce with consent or non-consent. However, some people travel across the world to engage in “child sex tourism”. “Child sex tourism” is tourism for the purpose of child prostitution. “Child sex tourism” is most severe in South America and Asia, but is still a global problem.