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Childhood Sexual Assault

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According to the National Sex Offender Public Website, “Approximately 1.8 million adolescents in the United States have been the victims of sexual assault.” Most people are unaware of the magnitude of sexual assault in children; however, it is far more common than one might think. As stated by Darkness to Light, “About one in 10 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday.”
As described by the United States Department of Justice, sexual assault is “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape”. Looking …show more content…

As stated by John Briere and Diana Elliott, those who have been sexually assaulted as a child have “a four-time greater lifetime risk for major depression than do individuals with no such abuse history” (57). Kristen Springer, et al. found that, “46% of those with a history of childhood sexual abuse, compared with 28% of those with no abuse, had experienced a major depressive episode” (866). Depression “has been found to be the most common long-term symptom among survivors. Mayo Staff Clinic describes depression as, “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.” Melissa and Joshua Hall state that depression from childhood sexual assault results in, “survivors having difficulty in externalizing the abuse, thus thinking negatively about themselves” (2). It is said that symptoms of those abused may include,” feeling down much of the time, having suicidal ideation, having disturbed sleeping patterns, and having disturbed eating patterns” (Hall, 2). Although the assault may have occurred as much as 15 years ago or so, the misery from the event can continue to overpower one's happiness. Survivors tend to avoid others and feel almost useless, as if they have nothing to offer. Recurring misery and negative thoughts can take over the lives of adults and result in different levels of depression. Although not all of the …show more content…

From recent studies concluded by Nichole Yuan, et al., “women who reported childhood sexual abuse were five times more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD compared to non victims” (2). According to Briere and Elliott, “groups of adult sexual abuse survivors have been found to display more intrusive, avoidant, and arousal symptoms of PTSD than those not abused as children” (56). Ranna Parekh defines PTSD as, “ a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault.” Especially prominent for adult survivors are PTSD related flashbacks-sudden, intrusive sensory experiences, often involving visual, auditory, olfactory, and/ or tactile sensations reminiscent of the original assault, experienced as though they were occurring in the present rather than as a memory of a past event” (Briere & Elliott 56). Although, PTSD appears to be significantly increased due to childhood sexual assault, others are debating upon whether it is as prominent as it is said to be. Cameron Boyd claims, “Some authors are critical of PTSD as a concept for understanding victim/survivors. The primary reason for this is that PTSD, as a psychiatric diagnosis, implies that the individual survivor suffers from a medical problem, and that her

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