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What is Child Sexual Abuse?
The consequences of any type of child abuse can be serious, but
possibly the most devastating form of abuse is Sexual Abuse.
When the abuser has a close relationship with the child, such
as a parent, relative, or a teacher, the child feels betrayed,
trapped in a situation where an adult claims to love the child, but
is scarring and physically hurting him/her.
Often, the only way a child can cope is to forget about the memory or
the abuse, not rediscovering it until depression and failing mental
health occurs much later in life. This usually causes the victims to
seek some type of therapy or counseling to help them understand what
happened.
When children cannot cope with sexual abuse and do not not where to go
for help, they often try to escape by running away to the streets.
Sometimes they become prostitutes and turn to drugs. Male victims may
grow up to be abusers themselves or get involved in violent criminal
acts.
Definitions of Child Sexual Abuse;
The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 (Subsection
5[3] of the Act) defines sexual abuse as including:
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...the obscene or pornographic photography, filming, or depiction of children
for commercial purposes, or the rape, molestation, incest, prostitution,
or other such forms of sexual exploitation of children under circumstances
which indicate that the child's welfare is harmed or threatened thereby...
Dr. David Finkelhor, Associate Director of the Family Violence Research
Program at the University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH), a leading
researcher on child sexual abuse, defines child sexual abuse as "it is
commonly used in North America" as
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...sexual activity involving a child that has one of two dimensions [sides]:
- it occurs in a relationship where it is deemed exploitive [taking
advantage of] by virtue of an age difference or caretaking relationship
that exists with a child, or
- it occurs as a result of force or threat. Thus,
in professional and popular terms, there is almost universal agreement
that sexual contact between a child and his/her father, step-father,
mother, step-mother, another older relative, teacher, or baby sitter
constitutes [makes it] sexual abuse.
- Sexual contact
at the hands of any adult or older person, whether known or unknown, is
also sexual abuse. And rape and forced sexual contact at the hands of
anyone, even a peer, is generally included.
Monday's Child was Cruelly Beat,
Tuesday's Child had Zero to Eat,
Wednesday's Child was Badly Burned,
Thursday's Child's Scars have Returned,
Friday's Child was Forced into Bed,
Saturday's Child has More Tears to Shed,
But the Child Abused on Sabbath Day has Nightmares which Simply won't Go Away!
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By: Margulies/Rothco
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