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Essay / Sexual Abuse Essay - 1231
Catherine ForstECE-2654/30/2014Sexual AbuseChild sexual abuse is a significant community health problem in the United States and around the world. In the United States, one in three women and one in five men were victims of sexual abuse before the age of 18. Unfortunately, sexual abuse is considered a fairly common experience in children's lives. Girls are twice as likely as boys to be victims of sexual abuse during childhood and eight times more likely during adolescence. Given that significant physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and behavioral problems are linked to childhood trauma, the need to more effectively address this problem has become supreme. Common problems that arise after sexual abuse include: excessive sexual knowledge, self-centered thoughts, feelings of guilt and fear, fear of reporting the incident, difficulty processing sequential events, remembering details, decreased mental self-esteem and depression, feelings of anger, preoccupation with sexual play. Sexual abuse is a form of child maltreatment. It can be defined as “contact or interaction between a child and an adult where the child is used in a sexual manner by an adult.” Sexual abuse includes a wide range of sexual activities, including nonviolent, nonphysical acts, such as revealing oneself to a child, as well as physical and sometimes violent contact. This contact may include touching, oral or genital contact, genital stimulation and penetration, and the exploitation of children through pornography and prostitution. In most cases, the attacker is known to the victim. After the child is sexually abused, the abuser often bribes or threatens the victim. In one study, higher degrees of abuse were found in men who grew up in a country...... middle of paper ...... n or genital area. All of these symptoms can be caused by a multitude of other things, but are red flags and should not be ignored by a child care provider!2. If you suspect sexual abuse, what would be the next step? Report it to Child Protective Services and, depending on who the offender is, I would also tell the parents. But this is unlikely because I wouldn't be sure if they would take the child away from us and we wouldn't be about to help them further.3. What type of activities would you suggest for child victims of sexual abuse? Seeking medical help can be a big help, counseling and doll play therapy are also helpful. Provide constant love and support to the child and reassure them that it is not their fault. Any other comments on sexual abuse? This is horrible, wrong and damaging!! I hate that!!!!