Child Sexual Abuse is prevalent in today’s society more than before and they say 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are victims of CSA (Child Sexual Abuse). What does CSA mean? When children are forced to take part in sexual activities for sexual stimulation by older people, we can call it Child Sexual Abuse. This need not be physical, it can happen online too and children being too young wouldn’t even know that they are being abused. There are two typed of sexual abuse: one that includes contact where the child is made to participate in sexual activities, penetration, or making them remove their clothes and touch someone else’s genitals and masturbate. The other one is non-contact abuse where children are made to do things over the internet like showing pornography, distributing filthy pictures showing sexual acts, and listening to sexual acts.
It’s not always so easy to detect children who are abused because the perpetrator will be someone the family knows and trusts and they usually will have the power to tell the child that it’s normal and they enjoyed it. The effects of CSA can be traumatic and most of them display a wide range of emotions and they might even find it difficult to trust anyone, have proper relationships with other adults when they grow up, and also in their sexual functioning. Feelings of worthlessness, low self-esteem, and a distorted view of sex is usually seen in these abused children as they are growing up.
Warning signs are always there for the parents to notice that their child is not the usual self. Many of them will have phobias; shrink away from physical contact, bed-wetting, thumb sucking, new names for body parts, depression, anxiety, and many more. It is important to act immediately instead of waiting for proof.
There are many ways to prevent CSA: Listen to children properly and don’t force them to go with anyone they don’t want to. Encourage your children to talk and be an active listener so that you know what is happening in their lives when they are not with you. It’s also very important to teach children to say NO and keep an eye on their online life. Be observant on anyone who is showering your child with a lot of gifts. Parents should also speak about safety openly at home with their children. Babysitters and caregivers should be screened properly. Schools and communities also should provide programs to keep the children safe and be persistent in their prevention methods so that children are not sexually exploited.
Sung W. Han