The Effects Of Sexual Abuse On Children Essay

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.

The sexual child abuse issue has become of significance within the United States as an alarming focus in the past 30 years. Sexual child abuse (SCA) is such an extensive topic and yet as time progresses this subject is more unrestricted for discussion, various dialogs are provided to make parents and care-takers aware of the signs of potential sexual child abuse. Seminars are provided to and for children to teach methods in identifying any possible perpetrators and report any peculiar behavior they may come across. However, how fortunate are children from other countries in reporting or discussing this same issue when something so violated occurs to them? According to Alpert, J.L., Brown, L.S., & Courtois, C.A., (1998), there have been findings that are constant in supporting that at least 20% of American women and 5% to 10% of American men have experienced some type of sexual abuse in childhood and that such abuse has transpired without regard to origin, race, or socioeconomic status. In an urban study however, which concentrated in Leon, Nicaragua, determined that sexual abuse defined childhood and adolescence as younger than age 19 Olsson, A., Ellsber, E., Berglund, S., Herrera, A., Zelaya, E., Pena, R., Zelaya, F., & Persson, L.A. (2000). Additionally, according to the Nicaraguan study sexual abuse was described as any sexual act by an older individual towards a child who is 12 years of age or younger.

Over the years, sexual abuse has been defined and regulated across the United States. Laws and protections have been enforced to protect children from sexual perpetrators. These laws are extremely strict in the United States, but this may not be the case around the world. Although persecution of perpetrators remains a common solution, there are other interventions used to rehabilitate and prevent future acts of sexual abuse.

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.

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.

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

Sexual abuse can start at any age. Children do not know any better then what they are told, so they think what their parent or parents are doing to them is acceptable by touching them seductivly on parts of their genital area. Their is a complete difference in the way a parent or care giver touches a child unacceptably versus acceptably which is by wiping the child's genital areas to just remove just poop or pee to clean the child so they are healthy. Unacceptably is when the child is being touched excessively for pure pleasure this is illegal and should be reported if seen. This is how it starts off and becomes more and more intense over time. At first the child does not feel forced into this or feels threatened because they have so much trust at such a

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).

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

It should be noted that statistics show that 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age 18; 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18; 1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the internet (Darkness2light, 2009c). Also children who are ill, disabled, or otherwise perceived as different are more likely targets of abuse(Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2009).

Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry). Childhood sexual abuse is a traumatic experience affecting the lives of not only the victim, but those close to the victim as well. Many think there is only one person truly traumatized, but in fact, everyone involved is affected. The victim has to deal with their experience the rest of their lives. They may be more at risk for other mental issues as well, including depression. The family involved has to deal with its pain, often causing hardship and discord within the family. This is especially true

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

Child sexual abuse has been a worldwide concern since it seems to be a very serious issue

Throughout the course of history, millions of children have been victims of physical abuse; it has been shown that the effects of this abuse can profoundly influence ones mental and physical health in the span of his or hers life.

Child abuse is just one of the problems in America we face today. Child abuse affects a child’s mind, emotional state of being and this type of abuse or cruelty molds a person to whom they are by the age of eighteen and is a worldwide prevailing occurrence. “Child abuse or ill-treatment creates all forms of physical and /or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.” Child sexual abuse had been extensively known as one of the distress in a child’s life. Previous study have delivered tough indication of child sexual abuse is connected with a quantity of psychological, social, and mental health problems. Depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse, and most illnesses among adult child sexual abuse victims. Former analyses have stated that some of the fears include sexual illnesses, victimization, and close acquaintance violence. In recent times, it has been establish that various physical health conditions are connected to child sexual abuse. In accumulation, child sexual abuse fighters have been found to accomplish less in knowledge and revenue.