Effects Of Child Sexual Abuse On Children

The effects of childhood sexual abuse carry on with the children forever. To what extent and to what effect does abuse have on children during adulthood? What are the main issues that adults have been abused suffer from in adulthood? Do they have more of a physical issue with preforming with their partner in the bedroom or do they have more of a mental block due to their trauma? The world had been asking these questions for far too long and we need answers on how helping the children of our world. The questions that have been stated have been answered through the two articles that will be summarized below.

Every year thousands of children are abused. This abuse can be physical, emotional or sexual in nature. All forms of abuse are wrong, all forms of abuse are harmful, but childhood sexual abuse can cause major emotional and physical harm in our adolescents. Before we can properly treat these victims we must first have a solid grasp of how and why sexual abuse occurs, the typical effects of the abuse and how the abuse changes the child's stages of development.

Sexual abuse can be hard to define because of the many different forms it can take on, the different levels of frequency, the variation of circumstances that can occur. Until a child is fit to function as a self-supporting and informed adult, we have an obligation not to take advantage of their lack of power or protection to inflict damage, or demand submission to acts that are not in their own best interests within. Children are being abused every day in different countries. While commonly accepted wisdom had been that childhood sexual abuse results in long lasting negative outcomes.

Being sexually abused is a very traumatizing experience, and this form of victimization at a young age only amplifies the situation. The mortifying nature of child sexual abuse often brings along with it changes in the victim's life. Some of the numerous short term effects (problems that impact them while they are still at a young

As time progresses on, more reports of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been documented. According to Colangelo and Cooperman, CSA is defined as “the use of a child under 18 years of age as an object of gratification for adult sexual needs and desires.” Another definition of CSA is “sexual abuse [that] occurs whenever one person dominates and exploits another by means of sexual activity or suggestion.” (Hall, M., & Hall, J., 2011) it is difficult to

In the typical classroom, a 4-year-old child once said, “If someone wants to have sex with you, you have to do it.” (Rafanello) Child abuse is more prevalent now than ever, and the numbers are only growing. This shows us that child abuse is more relevant now than ever. The amount of damage inflicted on these children mentally range from mild to extreme. This is why it’s important that child abuse gets reported as soon as possible.

Child sexual abuse is an ever-present, psychologically and physically damaging event that occurs daily to hundreds of children. Unfortunately, child sexual abuse is not going away any time soon and the lives of so many precious children are altered forever. These abused children often grow up to be psychologically damaged adults with emotional, cognitive and physical issues that may never be able to be conquered. Far too many adults live with the pain of their secret and it can be quite debilitating. Adults who were abused as children may have many problems in their

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is growing and becoming more prevalent around the world (Aspelmeier, Elliott, & Smith, 2007; Karakurt & Silver, 2014; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). As such, CSA acquired concern as being a serious problem in recent decades. CSA is any type of sexual relation with a child, who is unable to consent, through force, threat, or dishonesty to assure participation. Consequently, CSA associates with psychological difficulties, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

. (Stewart, ) contends that feelings of vulnerability, unworthiness and powerless difficulty in distinguishing sexual from affectionate behaviours, mistrust, shame, guilt, stigma and mental health problems are psychological effects of CSA. A study conducted by (Wilson, 2010) indicates that adult survivors of CSA show a series of psychological and physical problems throughout their lives. (Hornor, 2010) argues that the majority of children who are sexually abused will be moderately to severely symptomatic at some point in their life. There is evidence to suggest that (Stevenson, 1999) children who are exposed to sexual abuse are at risk negative consequences as a result of the abuse itself, not solely as a consequence of other associated background

In the past ten years researchers have increase their knowledge on the understanding of the different effects that maltreatment has on early brain development. A foundation has been set for the neurobiological explanations of children who have experienced sexual abuse in their early years of life. The explanations include areas of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional struggles. There are many different internal and external factors that associate with the way the child develops into adulthood. Variables that can be taken into account are individual factors and environmental factors. For example individual factors consist of children’s temperaments and vulnerability. In regards to environmental factors this contains how caregivers portray abuse along with overall family atmosphere. Some other specific variables associated with abuse are duration, amount of violence, and relationship between victim and abuser. In addition, age has a strong impact on the victim in regards to adult sexual behavior. When a child is abused at a young age he or she is more likely to engage in sexualized external behavior. At the age of six or younger, children have a higher chance to show their abuse through inappropriate and aggressive sexualized behavior. As for older children of twelve and up they lean more towards fear of sex. These children shoe more internal behavior problems as well (Aaron, 2012).

Sexual abuse in children has an impact on their development in adulthood. As a result of this horrifying experience, victims may feel ashamed of themselves even though they are the victims and have done nothing wrong. Also victims have an inability to trust adults because someone they once trusted took advantage of them. They may feel defenseless and powerless. Sexual abuse never goes away, as much as an individual tries to block it, it will be a part of them for the rest of their lives.

In the state of California predatory offenses consist of sexual battery by restraint, misdemeanor child molestation, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 or 15, continuous abuse of a child, statutory rape, annoying a molested child under the age of 18, oral copulation, solicitation of a minor, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and lewd and lascivious of a child under the age of 14. Sexual crimes is one of the most world wide offense, and in California is no different from what is taken place all over the world and is mostly targeted toward children. Despite trying to gain control over sexual predators and hold them accountable for their actions, this still remains to be a huge problem.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is the act of engaging a child in unwanted sexual behavior and activities such as rape, incest, molestation, prostitution, and other forms of sexual exploitation (as cited by Goodyear-Brown, Fath, &Myers, 2012, p. 4; McGarth, Nilsen, and Kerly, 2011, p. 485). From the efforts for child protective movement in the 1800s to the feminist anti-rape movement a 100 years later in the 1970s that brought to light CSA as a crime against women (Whitter, 2009, p. 7), this type of abuse has been an ongoing issue that has constantly been in and out of sight of the public spectrum of social problems. It is an abuse that children throughout history have been subjected and overlooked by society as taboo and rare occurrence; however, recent literature points otherwise. According to statistics one in twelve children are victims of child abuse (McGarth et al., 2011, p. 485) and in the United States there are approximately 39 million survivors of CSA (as cited by Gaskill& Perry, 2012, p. 29). The survivors are not only left to cope with the traumatic experience, but also the negative effects of the abuse that follow them to adulthood that create unfavorable outcomes such as mental health problems, criminal behavior, and employment obstacles that make it hard for survivors to lead successful lives.

Sexual abuse, like any form of abuse, can have an abundance of effects on an individual. One study claims that partnered with sexual abuse, is often a lack of parental involvement (Vigil, Geary, Byrd-Craven, 2005). This may be due to the lack of monitoring the child, or in the case of incest, a lack of respect towards the child. With women, sexual abuse can result in a lack of self worth, low self-esteem, and an unhappy view on their overall body image (Vigil et al., 2005). The researchers also suggest that a child who has been sexually abused may become sexually active earlier in their life compared to

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is seldom an isolated trauma, often presenting as physical and emotional abuse, nested within other adverse events such as neglect, domestic violence, and/or substance abuse in the household. Children who present with a history of CSA may exhibit a range of symptoms or no symptoms at all. Symptomatology is related to the frequency and duration of the abuse, relationship to