Sexual abuse
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Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another, when that force falls short of being a sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or (often pejoratively) molester.[1] The term also covers any behavior by any adult towards a child to stimulate either the adult or child sexually. When the victim is younger than the age of consent, it is referred to as child sexual abuse.
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[edit] Types of sexual abuse
There are many types of sexual abuse, including:
- Non-consensual, forced physical sexual behavior such as rape or sexual assault
- Sexual kissing, fondling, exposure of genitalia, and voyeurism.
- Exposing a child to pornography.
- Saying sexually suggestive statements towards a child.
- The use of a position of trust to compel otherwise unwanted sexual activity without physical force
- Incest, when it is coerced by force or emotional manipulation.
[edit] Spousal sexual abuse
Spousal sexual abuse is a form of domestic violence. When the abuse involves forced sex, it may constitute rape upon the other spouse, depending on the jurisdiction, and may also constitute an assault.
[edit] Positions of power
Sexual misconduct can occur where one person uses a position of authority to compel another person to engage in an otherwise unwanted sexual activity. For example, sexual harassment in the workplace might involve an employee being coerced into a sexual situation out of fear of being dismissed. Sexual harassment in education might involve a university student submitting to a professor's sexual advances in fear of being given a failing grade.
Several sexual abuse scandals have involved abuse of religious authority and often cover-up among non-abusers, including cases in the Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,[2] the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Orthodox Judaism,[3] and various cults.
[edit] Sexual abuse of minors
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual gratification of an adult or older adolescent.[4][5] In addition to direct sexual contact, child sexual abuse also occurs when an adult indecently exposes their genitalia to a child, asks or pressures a child to engage in sexual activities, displays pornography to a child, or uses a child to produce child pornography.[4][6][7]
Effects of child sexual abuse include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, fear of things associated with the abuse (including objects, smells, places, doctor's visits, etc.), self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, addiction, self-injury, suicidal ideation, somatic complaints, depression,[8] post-traumatic stress disorder,[9] anxiety,[10], other mental illnesses (including borderline personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder[citation needed]), propensity to re-victimization in adulthood,[11] and physical injury to the child, among other problems.[12]
Sexual abuse by a family member is a form of incest, and can result in more serious and long-term psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest.[13]
Approximately 15% to 25% of women and 5% to 15% of men were sexually abused when they were children.[14][15][16][17][18] Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often fathers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases. Most child sexual abuse is committed by men; women commit approximately 14% of offenses reported against boys and 6% of offenses reported against girls.[14] Most offenders who abuse pre-pubescent children are pedophiles;[19][20] however, a small percentage do not meet the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia.[21]
[edit] Sexual abuse of people with developmental disabilities
People with developmental disabilities are often victims of sexual abuse. According to research people with disabilities are at a greater risk for victimization of sexual assault or sexual abuse because of lack of understanding (Sobsey & Varnhagen, 1989). The rate of sexual abuse happening to people with disabilities is shocking, yet most of these cases will go unnoticed.
[edit] Sexual abuse and minorities
Sexual abuse is a big issue in some minority communities. In 2007, a number of Hispanic victims were included in the settlement of a massive sexual abuse case involving the Los Angeles archdiocese of the Catholic Church [22] To address the issue of sexual abuse in the African-American community, the prestigious Leeway Foundation [23] sponsored a grant to develop: www.blacksurvivors.org [3], a national online support group and resource center for African-American sexual abuse survivors. The non-profit group was founded in 2008 by Sylvia Coleman, an African-American sexual abuse survivor and national sexual abuse prevention expert.
[edit] See also
- Cinderella effect
- False allegation of child sexual abuse
- Journal of Sexual Aggression
- Psychological manipulation
- RAINN
- Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment
- The Survivors Trust
[edit] References
- ^ "Peer commentaries on Green (2002) and Schmidt (2002)". Archives of Sexual Behavior 31. 2002. "Child molester is a pejorative term applied to both the pedophile and incest offender.".
- ^ Case Reports of the Mormon Alliance, Mormon Alliance
- ^ Abuse Scandal Plagues Hasidic Jews In Brooklyn by Barbara Bradley Hagerty. All Things Considered, National Public Radio. 2 Feb 2009.
- ^ a b "Child Sexual Abuse". Medline Plus. U.S. National Library of Medicine,. 2008-04-02. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childsexualabuse.html.
- ^ Committee on Professional Practice and Standards (COPPS), Board of Professional Affairs (BPA), American Psychological Association (APA); Catherine Acuff, Ph.D.; Steven Bisbing, Ph.D.; Michael Gottlieb, Ph.D.; Lisa Grossman, Ph.D.; Jody Porter, Ph.D.; Richard Reichbart, Ph.D.; Steven Sparta, Ph.D.; and C. Eugene Walker, Ph.D (August 1999). "Guidelines for Psychological Evaluations in Child Protection Matters". American Psychologist 54 (8): 586–593. doi:. http://www.apa.org/practice/childprotection.html. Retrieved 2008-05-07. Lay summary – APA PsycNET (2008-05-07). "Abuse, sexual (child): generally defined as contacts between a child and an adult or other person significantly older or in a position of power or control over the child, where the child is being used for sexual stimulation of the adult or other person.".
- ^ Martin, J., Anderson, J., Romans, S., et al. (1993). Asking about child sexual abuse: methodological implications of a two-stage survey, Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 383-392.
- ^ Child sexual abuse definition from the NSPCC
- ^ Roosa M.W., Reinholtz C., Angelini P.J. (1999). "The relation of child sexual abuse and depression in young women: comparisons across four ethnic groups," Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 27(1):65-76.
- ^ Widom C.S. (1999). "Post-traumatic stress disorder in abused and neglected children grown up," American Journal of Psychiatry; 156(8):1223-1229.
- ^ Levitan, R. D., N. A. Rector, Sheldon, T., & Goering, P. (2003). "Childhood adversities associated with major depression and/or anxiety disorders in a community sample of Ontario: Issues of co-morbidity and specificity," Depression & Anxiety; 17, 34-42.
- ^ Terri L. Messman-Moore & Patricia J. Long, "Child Sexual Abuse and Revictimization in the Form of Adult Sexual Abuse, Adult Physical Abuse, and Adult Psychological Maltreatment," 15 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 489 (2000).
- ^ Dinwiddie S, Heath AC, Dunne MP, et al. (2000). "Early sexual abuse and lifetime psychopathology: a co-twin-control study." Psychological Medicine, 30:41–52
- ^ Courtois, Christine A. (1988). Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 208. ISBN 0393313565.
- ^ a b Julia Whealin, Ph.D. (2007-05-22). "Child Sexual Abuse". National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, US Department of Veterans Affairs. http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_child_sexual_abuse.html.
- ^ David Finkelhor (summer/fall 1994). "Current Information on the Scope and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse" (PDF). The Future of Children (1994) 4(2): 31-53. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/VS75.pdf.
- ^ Crimes against Children Research Center
- ^ Family Research Laboratory
- ^ Kevin M. Gorey and Donald R. Leslie (1997). "The prevalence of child sexual abuse: Integrative review adjustment for potential response and measurement biases". Child Abuse & Neglect (Elsevier Science Ltd.) 21 (4, April 1997): 391–398. doi:. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3SWVJJ8-6&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3bf4125ab05f663f306a1ca792f43398.
- ^ Hall, MD, Ryan C.; Richard C. W. Hall, MD, PA.. "A Profile of Pedophilia: Definition, Characteristics of Offenders, Recidivism, Treatment Outcomes, and Forensic Issues" (PDF). Mayo Clin Proc (MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH) 82:457-471 2007. http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/82/4/457.full.
- ^ Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 19 (4), 333-342.
- ^ Laws, Dr. Richard; William T. O'Donohue (1997). Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment. Guilford Press. pp. 175–193. ISBN 1572302410.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
[edit] Notes
- Sorenson, Susan B. (1997). Violence and Sexual Abuse at Home: Current Issues in Spousal Battering and Child Maltreatment, New York: Haworth Press. ISBN 1-56024-681-2.
- Leigh Ann Reynolds. "People with Mental Retardation & Sexual Abuse. The Arc Q & A", Arc National Headquarters, 1997
- Baladerian, N.(1991). "Sexual abuse of people with developmental disabilities", Sexuality and Disability 9(4),323-335
- Sobsey, D.(1994). Violence and Abuse in the Lives of People With Disabilities: The End of Silent Acceptance? Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1557661487
- Sobsey D. and Varnhagen, C.(1989). "Sexual abuse and exploitation of people with disabilities: Toward Prevention and Treatment". In M. Csapo and L. Gougen (Eds) Special Education Across Canada (pp. 199–218). Vancouver Centre for Human Developmental Research
- Valenti-Hien, D. and Schwartz, L.(1995). "The sexual abuse interview for those with developmental disabilities". James Stanfield Company, Santa Barbara: California.
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