What is Child Sexual Abuse?

What is child sexual abuse? Any sexual activity that is imposed on a child by an adult or an adolescent is a sexual assault and abuse of the power of one person over another. This also includes experiences of child to child, teen to child, teen to teen, if there is an age difference of four or more years.

The key word in this definition is imposed on a child. Children are trained to trust adults, as well they should. When an adult asks, manipulates or forces a child to do something that is against the child's best interest and welfare, they are imposing an experience that will have life long repercussions: perhaps physically, but especially emotionally. Many behavior problems can be traced to being inappropriately touched or manipulated by someone who had power or authority over a child, and used that power in a sexual way.

Sexual abuse doesn't have to involve intercourse. It can range from exhibited genitals, to fondling breasts, genitals or thighs. Some abusers are sexually stimulated by seeing children undressed or engaging in set up sexual games with adults or other children. Some offenders manipulate the child into oral sex or the actual act of intercourse. Others find it amusing to show pornography or to talk "dirty" to those who are younger than they are. Traumatic damage can be done to a sensitive child just by making suggestive references or talking in a sexual way.

Sexual abuse can also take the form of child exploitation by photographing the child in a compromising situation, with the intent to either use the photos for their own sexual stimulation or to sell them as pornography. The range of abuse is so wide and varied that it is hard to pin down a specific definition.

The fact is sexual abuse of children takes many forms, involves varying degrees of violence and emotional trauma, and is defined in a variety of ways, depending on the culture, context and purpose of the definition. However, the one consistent factor that is always present is the child does not know how to protect himself and someone bigger and stronger has power over them.

What many parents, police and others don't understand is that the fear, intimidation and loss of trust are frequently much more harmful than the actual act. It causes confusion about roles, boundaries and sexual awareness.

A child or teen that has been abused sexually will need patience, understanding, support and tools to deal with the trauma.

This article was written by Judy Wright, parent educator and author. Feel free to use it in your newsletter or publication, but please give full credit to the author and mention the contact information of JudyWright@ArtichokePress.com, 406-549-9813.

You will find a full listing of books, tapes, newsletters and workshops available on finding the heart of the story in the journey of life by going to www.ArtichokePress.com

RELATED ARTICLES

My Children
I have been a single mom for almost 20 years. My kids were 3, 7, 12 and 14 when my ex left.

Exams Cause Stress For Parents Too
When it comes to exams, or indeed any academic work, parents feel that they should be encouraging their teen to try hard and do well. The problem is that in trying to achieve this, many parents end up causing stress either for themselves, their teen or both.

Should Your Child Watch TV News? Surprising Opinions of Top Anchors
KIDS AND THE NEWS

Awesome Dads Top Ten Ways To Be The Foundation of Your Family
Part of the responsibility of being a father is to establish a strong foundation for the family. Just like a building foundation, much of this work goes unseen and rarely gets acknowledged, yet the strength and integrity of the entire structure relies on it. The following intentions, although not always perfectly fulfilled, give us guidance in our mission.

From Childrens Stories to Study Skills: Help Your Children Succeed in School
Introduction

Road Trip with Kids
Boredom, limited space and overflowing energy are a source of nuisance for a child when in a restaurant - how much more in the narrow cage of a car on a hour-long ride. You have barely left your home when the notorious "Are-we-there-already" starts, sometimes replaced by the equally infamous "How-long-is-it-still-going-to-take" and "I-have-to-pee" (the latter preferrably on highways with no possibility to stop).

How to Prepare for Labor
Although nothing anybody says can ever completely prepare a woman for the day she delivers her first baby, there are some simple suggestions that should help make this amazing experience a little bit easier.

Why Do People Have Kids?
Despite the theory that people have kids because they want and have planned for a family; the truth is that most people have kids because a woman gets pregnant. That is about the only reason. Did you know that 75% of all children in the United States are born out of wedlock and that the number is increasing each and every year? And folks these numbers are just in the United States, the world average is much higher. Only 50% of the kids in this country live in a household with two parents.

Lets Protect Our Children
There are software programs that you can purchase to keep your children from accessing undesirable websites. There are two good ones, Cyber Patrol and Net Nanny.

Raising Happy Diabetic Kids Part III Help Your Child Develop Self-Control
This is the third and final article in a series I wrote about raising happy diabetic kids. While Juvenile Diabetes makes this job tougher the information in these articles applies to raising any child. Diabetic children aren't any different from other children. Their pancreas just doesn't work. However, the emotional toll that diabetes takes on a child, even when blood glucose levels are under fairly good control, must be taken into account whenever we consider what is best for them. We can be very helpful in raising children who are emotionally strong and better able to avoid and overcome these stresses brought on by diabetes by making sure they are raised with a strong foundation of these three basic life skills. Self-Confidence, Self-Reliance, and Self-Control.

Free Stuff for Twins: Incentives for Parents of Multiple Births
A sure way to double the joys of parenthood is to give birth to twins! You'll have twice the smiles, goos & coos, giggles, and firsts (first words, first steps, first burps...) But for many soon-to-be parents of twins, once the excitement wears off, the math sets in...

Remember The Generation Gap?
The techniques of managing relationships between parents and their children is as old as.. well, parents having children. It's not an easy job, either for the parent or the child. But, the key to any relationship inside or outside the family is the ability to relate; to have an empathy that allows us a slightly special way in which we can communicate with one another in order to understand, and to be understood. We make friends because of the similarities we may have in certain areas and we sometimes can build lifelong relationships on that basis. But, having children means we do not have a choice to make that relationship as we might have in meeting a perfect stranger. It's a relationship forced upon us, albeit willingly in most cases. We as parents accept that as part of parenting. After all, as parents we have the opportunity to influence the development of our children to be just like us.. thus creating those similarities that enhance a lifelong relationship. Now, note that I used the word 'opportunity' in that sentence. I think as parents we all realize that in spite of what we do to manipulate their young lives our children will turn out as individuals just as we did with our parents. And that could very well mean that the relationship you have with your child is not based on similarities but more of accepting the respective family roles of parent and child.

Five Easy Steps to Picking the Perfect Baby Name
One of the few decisions you'll make during pregnancy thatwill, in fact, last throughout your child's lifetime is thechoice of your baby's name. (Unlike, for example, yourchoice of stroller or whether to use Lamaze or hypnosis toease labor pains.) To choose the best name for your baby,follow these simple tips:

Promoting Your Childs Heart Health
Cardiovascular endurance is one of the five health-related components of physical fitness. It refers to the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. In simple terms, someone with great cardiovascular endurance has a strong heart ? one that actually grows in size and pumps more blood with every beat, resulting in a lower heart rate.

Surprising Fun Solution to Kids Moods and Attitudes
As a parent, are you at your wits end? Does your child control you? Does your child act up in public? Does your child ignore you, whine, argue, show disrespect, have "moods" or "attitudes", throw tantrums, and drive you crazy? If this sounds familiar, you aren't alone. Parents across the country face the same problems. And, teachers tell us over and over that kids are often disrespectful. Education can take a back seat because so much time and energy is spent on discipline. Are your children often out of control?

Taking Home Souvenirs, Not Junk
Gift shops are a kid magnet and often a trip highlight! Do you cringe at the sight inexpensive trinkets and novelty items that will be lost or broken in the span of hours? Plan your souvenir strategy early and help your child assemble a collection that is unique and will last for years to come, preserving the memories of your travels together.First, come up with a theme. What type of souvenir is fairly common at most tourist locations and has the makings for a great collection? If you set your child on a treasure hunt for specific souvenirs with some sort of common ground, they will be able to tell a story or make an easily displayed collection.We've collected embroidered patches from the places we've visited with our child and sewn them onto a backpack he takes along on trips, adapting the idea from old suitcases with stickers from exotic locations.Here are some more ideas for starting your child's souvenir collection:Postcards. Have your child write himself a note and mail it back home. You can assemble it like a diary when you return from your travels.Key Chains. They can be collected and put on backpacks or hung on a strip hanging from the wall.Magnets. You can put them on the refrigerator at home or make a magnetic board to display the collection in your child's bedroom.Snowglobes or Music Boxes featuring scenes from your travel location.Crazy sunglasses or hats. They could be relevant to your travel destination or just wacky.Holiday ornaments. Each holiday, you can recount stories about travels with your children and have a great starter set of special ornaments when your child is grown so he can share his travel memories with his children.

Discipline on My Mind
I look out of the window as I am writing this. It is home time and mums are collecting their children from the local primary school. I see and hear harassed mums shouting "come here" (no response); "get down from there" (no response); "if you do that again you'll get a slap" (no response; no slap). And what am I writing about? Discipline!

Theres Never a Bad Time To Start Helping To Spread The Word of God
Q. What's the right age to start giving a Bible quiz to my child?

Top 25 Children Quotations
"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."-- Franklin P. Adams

Children and Mom and Paper
Memorabilia ? Children can create enough artwork for an entire gallery in a few short weeks. The key here is choices; establish a particular place-e.g., basket, drawer, or shelf ? for each child to put artwork. When that space is full, have one-on-one time with Mom and select your "three favorites". This is a lesson in life, which is continually full of choices. Then create a Memorabilia Box for each child where the favorites are kept. Keep the box in a convenient place, with the lid off, so it's easy to add new items. Use the same approach for photographs. A great parent-child activity is "scrap booking" ? have your child help make a family album, or get double prints, and let the children make their own. If you're not into albums, use attractive boxes. If you're on a tight budget you can use shoeboxes. Label the outside of each packet with the contents (e.g., Lee's 5th birthday, Mary's soccer outfit, etc.) with the date. At the end of the year, store your calendar with the photos in case you decide you want to create albums when the children are grown and you need to retrieve more specific dates. The key here is "Less is more." A few great photos are far superior to boxes of unidentified ones! One of the biggest causes of clutter ? and family disagreements -- is paper. Create a filing system for important papers. Create one file for each child for each area. For example, Medical Records ? Mary, St. John's High School ? Tom. Children can begin their own filing systems as soon as they start school. The key to any effective filing system is a File Index. This can be a handwritten list, a word processing document, a spreadsheet, or you can use Taming the Paper Tiger software (see below). A File Index will help you avoid making a file for "Summer Camp" when you already have one for "Camp Wesley." Here's a sample of some other file headings for information that children might like to file: Cartoons I like English Homework Family Information Friends Fun Things to Keep Gift Ideas for me Gift Ideas for others Hairstyles I like Math Homework New Year's Resolutions Phone Numbers/Addresses Recipes I can make Savings Account Scouting Information Summer Camp Information

home | site map | www.1001topwords.com