Sexual Abuse Awareness : Breaking The Cycle

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.

Child Abuse according to the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act as “the arming whether physically, passionately, or sexually, mistreatment, abuse, neglect, or denial of any child or young person”.

Child abuse is epidemic in many countries as well as the United States. It is estimated that every thirteen seconds a child is abused in some manner: physically, sexually, emotionally or by neglect (Friedman). Each year, there are over 3 million reports of child abuse in the United States involving more than 6 million children. Child abuse can be reduced with proper education of the parents and with greater public awareness.

Every day children around the world are being abused by their parents, trusted adult, caregiver and peers. Children are constantly suffering when there are things that everyone as a community can do help them. Psychologists, social workers and the victims to childhood abuse have studied and worked together to establish precautionary measures to execute child abuse all together.

According to Webster 's dictionary, child abuse is the mistreatment of a child by a parent or guardian, including neglect, physical abuse and sexual molestation. The medical definition differs fro Webster 's definition only by a few words. The medical

Sexual abuse, whether of adults or children, is also abuse of a position of power. It also covers any behaviour by any adult towards a child to stimulate either the adult or child sexuality. When the victim is younger than the age of consent (it is a minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts), it is referred to as child sexual abuse.

“I’m at fault for not stopping the abuse.” Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional destruction or risk of stern harm to a child. There are many forms of child cruelty, including neglect, violence, sexual abuse, manipulation, and emotional abuse. Child abuse is a worldwide social problem with many serious consequences, both short term and long term. The prevention and early detection of child abuse is extremely important in order to occur and improve the situation and to prevent repeated abuse, serious morbidity, or even death.

“Child sexual abuse involves any sexual activity with a child where consent is not or cannot be given. This includes sexual contact that is accomplished by

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

Preventing the initial occurrence has the greatest impact as children’s outcomes are better when the abuse is prevented from occurring in the first instance, however, many children may not be reached before abuse due to a lot of factors e.g. lack of awareness, socio-cultural factors. Therefore, it is important to increase awareness among the population, reach every child at risk and identify ways in which one can address diverse groups in the society. Further research, with improved data collection and analysis is recommended as this will allow a better understanding and improved evaluation of the current strategies in order to know if they are successfully at tackling the issue which can in turn inform better prevention strategies and

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is loosely defined as the use of “persuasion, enticement, and other inducements to coerce a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct or simulation of sexual acts” (Wilson, 2010, p. 56). While all CSA is austere, the form and severity level of CSA falls on a spectrum ranging from non-contact CSA (lowest severity) to non-penetrative contact CSA (moderate severity) to penetrative CSA (highest severity; Negriff, Schneiderman, Smith, Schreyer, & Trickett, 2014). Since the form and severity level of CSA fall on a spectrum, there is no standard clinical presentation of CSA, which may obscure a clinician’s ability to identify the signs of CSA (Yancey, Naufel, & Hansen, 2013).

According to the World Health Organization, 25% of all adults report having been physically abused as children. One in 5 women and 1 in 13 men report having been sexually abused as a child. Child maltreatment is an enormous global problem with serious impacts on victims’

There are various social problems that threaten the growth and development of children in today’s society to include: alcohol abuse, depression, divorce, homelessness, potential drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, suicide, school drop-out, teen pregnancy, and violent crimes. Sadly, the mutual factor that puts children and youth at greater risk for most of these personal challenges is childhood sexual abuse. Childhood sexual abuse remains a taboo in society whilst the victim is left feeling ashamed, violated, embarrassed, and distraught to as a result of replaying such violent acts in their minds. As a society the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse can no longer be disputed or swept under the carpet. Childhood sexual abuse needs to be

Although child abuse has soon become a more discussed issue, it is nothing new in today’s society. Dating back to ancient times, physical child abuse has always attributed to lives of people around the world. Approaching and understanding child mistreatment has changed as societies have modernized and progressed; whereas one thing remains an unalterable issue, child abuse happens constantly and continuously worldwide.

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.