Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse Essay

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.

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

Sexual abuse is any sexual act that is committed against someone’s will, also called sexual violence it covers a range of offenses, including a completed nonconsensual sex act, an attempted nonconsensual sex act, abusive sexual contact, and non-contact sexual abuse. Approximately one in six boys will have experienced some form of sexual abuse prior to reaching the age of 18, that number may even be higher given the understandable reluctance of children to report such crimes. Sexual abuse occurs at the hands of fathers,

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.

Many children that are sexually assaulted have many deficit after the assault. Corwin & Keeshin (2011) states in sexual abuse, genital injuries may result in acute pain and increase the risk of long-lasting effects such as sexual dysfunction, urinary problems, sexually transmitted infections such as human immunodeficiency virus and reproductive problems. (p.2). Sexual abuse is not only physical but it is psychological as well as is it emotional. Especially with being sexually abuse, the child would be in so much pain, and at the same time try to figure out what just happening to them. Not just that there is a chance that they might get diseases like sexually transmitted diseases, but they may experience dysfunction in their body like urinary problem because their bodies has not fully developed. The other side effect according to Corwin & Keeshin (2011) some child victims of sexual abuse display few initial effects, the majority show some signs of posttraumatic stress, and more than one-third meet diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another effect that this may have according to Corwin & Keeshin (2011) is

As Vice-Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, I am writing to request that the Rules Committee establish a rule to allow for the admissibility of certain evidence of similar behavior by the defendant in sexual assault and child molestation cases. The adoption of such a rule will effectively end the current disunion between the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Maryland Rules of Evidence.

Sexual behaviors and experimentation are very much a part of childhood development. Normative sexual behaviors of children consists of preschool children poking others bodies, and being interested in bathroom functions, while children ages 5 to 7 years are telling dirty jokes, kissing, and holding hands, and children ages 8 to 12 years, are mooning and exhibitionism, kissing, and touching others’ genitals (Caldwell, 2007). However when children are not supervised appropriately they are capable of sexually harming other children. Adolescents are accountable for perpetrating 20% of all sexual assaults, along with 50% of all child sexual abuse cases (Keelan & Fremouw, 2013). However in considering that statistic some sexual harming behaviors can be within the parameters of normal child behavior, and sometimes rarely signal predatory inclinations (Caldwell, 2007). The vast majority of youth harmful sexual acts are manifestations of non-sexual feelings. In fact, many mental health care professionals have found that much of the behavior classified as sex offenses should not necessarily be considered predatory. Therapists point out that many sexual offenses are carried out by naïve experimenters who are overly impulsive and/or immature adolescents that sometimes engage in sexual experimentation (Smith, Wampler, Jones, & Reifman, 2005). Examining the sexual behavior along with the age of the perpetrator and victim helps classify whether or not those behaviors fall

Child sexual abuse is serious and treacherous offence. The World Health Organization defines child sexual abuse as any sexual activity which the child does not comprehend and consequently, is unable to give informed consent. The Canadian Family Violence Laws definition of child sexual abuse is any activity in which a child is used for sexual purposes. The child maltreatment section under Health Canada states that child sexual abuse activities include fondling, intercourse, incest, sodomy, exhibitionism, and commercial exploitation through prostitution. It is no doubt that child sexual abuse is considered a crime throughout the world. However, slight emphasis is given to the causes of this crime. The goal of this essay is to provide an intricate

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.”

The definition of “child sexual abuse” has come a long way since its origin. Today, it is defined as any sexual act between an adult and a minor, or between two minors, when one exerts power over the other; this includes non-contact acts such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism, and communicating in a sexual manner by phone or Internet. However, the issue of child sexual abuse was irrelevant until it was brought to the public’s attention by Western

The definition of “child sexual abuse” has come a long way since its origin. Today, it is defined as any sexual act between an adult and a minor, or between two minors, when one exerts power over the other; this includes non-contact acts such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism, and communicating in a sexual manner by phone or Internet. It is one of the most prevalent health problems children face today because of the serious physiological and physical damage it imposes on the victim. Statistically, if someone to interview

The issue of child sexual assault has been present since the beginning of history. There is however, surprisingly little research that has been done on it prior to the 1960s and 1970s. As the Director of Children’s Services at the American Humane Association Vincent De Francis stated in 1969, “social work ‘literature seems devoid of reference to or content on this subject [the sexual assault of children],’” (Myers, 2008). In 1975, David Walters, an American politician, stated, “‘Virtually no literature exists on the sexual abuse of children,’” (Myers, 2008). The idea that very little was found on the topic is rather disturbing. Most of the information that is available now was gathered after the mid-1980s when interest in the subject arose (Fenkel, Ormrod, and Chaffin, 2009).

Finally, sexually abused youth are three to five times more likely to commit delinquent acts than youth who were not victimised. (National Institute of Justice, 2003) Sexual abuse according to the American Psychological Association, is defined as, “unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent” (American Psychological Association, n.d.). In a study published by the Journal of Psychology, findings conclude as follows:

Sexual abuse to children happens across every socioeconomic status, ethnic, cultural, religion and education. Getting treatment for a victim of child sexual abuse is a difficult process because of the lack of trust by the child. When child sexual abuse occurs the victim’s family has a difficult time talking about the abuse, which leads to the family pretending the abuse never happened. Once the family

People may not be aware, but any one of their peers, friends, or neighbors may be victims of child abuse. Every day, someone experiences physical, emotional, neglect, and/or sexual abuse. Abuse can lead to death or injury for the rest of a victim's life, from either the perpetrator or themselves. In order to prevent child abuse society must: recognize the types of abuse, understand common causes of abuse, know the characteristics of abusers, and realize the effects abuse has, not just on the child, but on families and communities across the world.