Sexual Abuse In The United States

Sexual abuse is the forced and undesired sexual behaviour from one person onto another and/or sexual activity that can be deemed as inappropriate and/or harmful

Incest, rape, and Childhood Sexual Abuse have been shrouded in denial as late as the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. In her 2010 study, “Evolving Narratives About Childhood Sexual Abuse: Challenging the Dominance of the Victim and Survivor Paradigm,” Hunter concluded that the majority of Childhood Sexual Abuse survivors she spoke with did not disclose to parents/authority figures that they had been abused, and the ones who did disclose their experience to parents/authority figures were not validated or believed. Hunter identifies societal factors such as respect for authority, rigid gender roles, the taboo of sexual issues, the lack of supportive adults, and the lack of language to describe what was happening as some of the factors that made disclosure even more difficult during that time than it is today. These factors contribute to the idea of keeping sexual assault a

Sexual abuse includes both sexual acts and non-contact abuse. The Child Welfare Information Gateway (2013) provides the definition of sexual abuse according to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

What is it child sexual abuse, it is the physical, verbal maltreatment or sexual molestation of a child. This form of abuse can be directed towards the innocence’s of both male and female children.

This abuse is sometimes known as the “ Hidden abuse”. Sexual abuse doesn’t always involve bodies coming into contact sometimes, no one even has to touch for it to be sexual abuse. Exposing a child to sexual situation or material is sexually abusive even tough touching might not be involved. Sexual abuse occurs when the parent uses the child for sexual purposes or involves the child in sexual acts. 20.7% of adults have reported that they were sexually abused as a child. Sexual abuse consists of acts such as, non contact abuse, making a child view a sex act, inappropriate sexual talk, and child

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), Sexual abuse is “unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent. Most victims and perpetrators know each other. Immediate reactions to sexual abuse include shock, fear or disbelief. Long-term symptoms include anxiety, fear or post-traumatic stress disorder. While efforts to treat sex offenders remain unpromising, psychological interventions for survivors — especially group therapy — appears effective” (American Psychological Association).

Sexual Abuse is unwanted sexual behavior by an individual using force, threats or any other violent acts. Many sexual abuse victims do not report to authorities. Children are the most vulnerable involving sexual abuse before the age of seventeen. Sexual abuse makes many individuals nauseous about the topic and they refuse to bring it up. In fact, it scars the people who have suffered from it for the rest of their lives. Most sexual abusers are men that the victim is very close with or in fact, looks up to them.

Women and little girls have been the most common prey for sexual abuse cases due to the fact that women are weaker and easily taken advantage of. In fact, “Ninety percent of all rapes are committed against women, with 1 in 6 women experiencing rape. One in five girls and one in 20 boys experience childhood sexual abuse” ("Sexual Assault / Abuse." The Mental Health Effects of Sexual Assault and Abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.). Most of the time an individual goes through such an event the perpetrator usually has a sexual attraction to younger children or has a sick twisted mind and likes to rape women for fun. In many cases perpetrators are known to threaten their prey their lives, which can lead to some serious psychological problems and later turn into trauma creating a mental behaviors

According to victimsofcrime.org, 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault, and or sexual abuse incident. Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault are similar but, they ARE NOT the same. Sexual Abuse is any sort of non-consensual sexual contact. Sexual Assault is any sexual or sexualized act that makes a person feel uncomfortable, intimidated or frightened. It is behaviour that a person has not invited or chosen. Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault are both problems in the U.S. and we need to try and stop it.

The definition of sexual abuse is complex and varies among cultures, however, according to Margaret Alic, sexual abuse is “any nonconsensual sexual exposure or activity and may include any of the following: voyeurism; exposing of a child to pornography; solicitation of a child; exposing one’s genitals to a child; sexual comments or gestures directed at a child; rape or incest; or forcing, pressuring, tricking or talking someone into engaging in sexual activity, ” (Alic, 2011). Sexual assault comes in many different forms such as rape, child abuse, groping, and torturing of an individual, all of which will be discussed in this paper.

Sexual abuse is a major public health concern in our country that affects numerous men and women of all ages. According to LoveIsRespect.org, “Sexual abuse refers to any action that pressures or coerces someone to do something sexually they don’t want to do. It can also refer to behavior that impacts a person’s ability to control their sexual activity or the circumstances in which sexual activity occurs, including oral sex, rape or restricting access to birth control and condoms.” Most perpetrators are known by the victims and can include romantic partners, family members and acquaintances (CDC.gov “Sexual Violence: Facts at a Glance”, 2012). Sexual abuse is also becoming an

Child sexual abuse is any form of sexual abuse against a child, male or female, by an adult or another child. However, it is difficult to define the term as there may be regional or cultural differences in understanding and defining the concepts of abuse and child or childhood. Children may become victims of sexual abuse within their families (by a parent, step-parent, sibling or other relative) or outside the home (by a friend, neighbor, teacher, stranger). Some perpetrators are often driven by a need to dominate or control others. Physical violence, which is common in sexual abuse of adults, may also be involved in child sexual abuse. Most child abusers usually rely on the inherent power that an adult has over a child. Abusers are divided

Sexual abuse is one type of abuse that is common and often not reported. While “child sexual abuse is reported up to 80,000 times a year, the number of unreported instances is far greater…” (Children’s advocacy, n.d.) “Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent” (“Sexual abuse”, 2015).This paper will look at the physical, mental, emotional, and social/behavioral effects sexual abuse has on the victims. The scope of this paper is academic journals or peer reviewed articles from within the past 11 years. Sexual abuse may occur when the victim is a child, but may also occur when the victim is an adult. This paper does not specify the

A study shows that men are actually 5x more likely to be sexually abused. But because of the society we live in where it 's said men can 't be victims of sexual abuse and rape and that reporting such thing would make them weak, the male abuse report is significantly lower than the females filed abuse reports. Men don 't like to file reports because they have been raised to “man up” and subside pain and fear in this society. This is absurd, FCASV stated “We don 't like to think about it, and we don 't like to talk about it, but the fact is that men can also be sexually victimized. Studies show that a staggering 10-20% of all males are sexually violated at some point in their lifetimes. Men are not immune to the epidemic of sexual violence, nor are male survivors safe from the stigma that society attaches to victims of rape. Male survivors are often

Sexual abuse – any acts that involve forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not they are aware of what is happening. Sexual abuse can be, but is not limited to: