Child sexual abuse

From Wikinfo

Child sexual abuse is the ill-treatment of children in a sexual context, including engaging in sexual behavior with someone below the age of consent. It is regarded as particularly reprehensible in many societies.

Child sexual abuse is overwhelmingly done by parents of the children, or at their behest. Systematic denial perpetuates the myth of a "stranger" (typically male) accosting children, as the principal cause of child sexual abuse. However, some pedosexuals do seek out victims among children in this way.

Child sexual abuse has been given much more attention in Western society since the late 1970s. Awareness of the problem has greatly increased, although much remains to be done. Critics have argued that in many cases, innocents have become victims of mass hysteria surrounding child sexual abuse. Psychological techniques involving discovery of child sexual abuse, including memory recovery, are considered highly questionable by some (see false memories, satanic ritual abuse, multiple personality disorder).

"Children who molest"

A recent US trend within the treatment of child sexual abuse, starting perhaps in the early 1990s, is the focus on "juvenile sex offenders" or even children. The label "juvenile sex offender" is controversial because it is not only used to describe acts of violence, but also consensual acts that violate statutory rape laws. Similarly, many if not most "children who molest" are viewed by critics of this trend as simply sexually experimenting. Yet, in these cases, both therapy and detention are frequent consequences.

Therapies used even on young children have included controversial methods such as aversion therapy, where children are, for example, forced to smell ammonia while looking at nude pictures or to listen to audio tapes describing sexual situations. In order to measure sexual response, devices like penile plethysmographs and vaginal plethysmographs are sometimes used on these children.

Historical aspects

Though few doubt that child sexual abuse does occur and has negative effects on the children involved, there is much controversy over whether certain practices should be considered abuse. This is especially common when commentators examine rituals practiced in cultures geographically or temporally removed from their own. In many cases, rituals or ceremonies of cultural or religious significance involve activities that some describe as child sexual abuse. These include castration, circumcision (of males), female genital mutilation, infibulation, cutting and bleeding of the genitals and Chinese footbinding.

Pederasty in ancient Greece took on mystical significance, where semen from a noble man was believed to give arete to a young man through anal intercourse. This was part of a common practice in Greece where a noble man took on a young male as a student. This relationship was highly idealized in Greek culture and often involved sexual acts as mentioned. Since the practice was so widespread in ancient Greece, and there is no indication of any detractors at the time, many do not consider this an example of child sexual abuse (see moral relativism). Generally, people who hold this view believe that sexual acts can only be termed "abuse" if there is a victim who experiences negative effects as a result of the activities. Since there is no evidence of this occurring, many have concluded that this should not be considered abuse.

Circumcision is the practice of removing the foreskin of a male. Some consider this practice to be a type of child sexual abuse, though others claim that the negative effects associated with child sexual abuse do not occur with circumcision. See circumcision for a detailed description of this controversy. Similarly, the various "remedies" against masturbation which were proposed and used from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, ranging from physical restraints to castration, have been called sexual abuse, and the common practice of spanking (often on the nude bottom) has been claimed to have sexual undertones (see spanking for a discussion of the sexual fetish of spanking).

In ancient China, young girls often had their feet bound in a manner that caused the big toe to stick out. The enlarged toe served as a substitute penis for the girl. Some ancient Chinese texts describe using the big toe in sexual play, leading many researchers to conclude that the practice was abusive. Others doubt that statement, and claim that this was a standard and accepted practice, and did not cause the negative effects associated with modern child sexual abuse.

In some South Pacific island cultures, it was believed that young boys needed to swallow large amounts of semen, termed jerungdu, in order to properly mature sexually. This was accomplished by older boys receiving oral sex from the younger boys. However, again, this was the accepted norm in those societies.

Typology of Perpetrators

There are two main categories of behavior for pedosexuals who commit sexual offenses. These categories are known as the "regressed" pedosexual and the "fixated" pedosexual.

The regressed pedosexual has a primary sexual orientation toward members of the opposite sex who are of the offender's own age. The sexual interest in children typically manifests itself in adulthood in this sort of offender. Due to an inability to maintain adult relationships the offender substitutes a child for an adult sexual partner. The intitial offense is often not planned and often alcohol related. The "regressed" pedosexual is typically capable of a traditional life-style and often married. Social skills of the "regressed" pedosexual are basically normal but with under developed peer relationships. The "regressed" pedosexual typically has no problem making aquaintances or socializing with others, but is not capable of handling the responsibility of long-term relationships. This behavior is a maladaptive attempt to cope with specific life stresses. Females are the primary target of the "regressed" pedosexual.

The fixated pedosexual has a primary sexual orientation toward members of the same sex who are children. The sexual interest in children manifests itself in adolescence for this offender. The offenses are typically planned out ahead of time and are not alcohol or drug related. The "fixated" pedosexual has behavior that is characterized as a lack of maturity and this offender has difficulty with adult sexual and social relationships. This offender identifies with children, in other words considers him or herself to be like a child and thus seeks sexual relationships with what the offender percieves to be other children. The "fixated" offender is often interested in the same activities and interests as the young children who are the offender's victims. Such offenders often collect articles related to small children (clothing, children's books), even if they do not have children. This behavior is a maladaptive resolution to issues with adult maturity. The primary targets of the "fixated" offender are males.

Warning Signs

The following is a list of signs that a person may be a potential sexual predator of children.

1. Someone who engages in the collection, trading, and/or distribution of child pornography, especially a large volume of the material.(It is estimated over 35% of people who view child porn sexually abuse children)
2. Someone who talks constantly about sexual activities of children.
3. A person who spends his (or in the rare exception, her) spare time doing things with children and not adult friends.
4. This person seems to always have a special child friend. And this friend might change from time to time.
5. Someone who will ridicule a child by calling them names with a sexual tone. Names like slut, whore, stud etc.
6. They will ask their adult sexual partner to act or dress like a child during sex.
7. They will tell children to keep secrets and not tell anyone of certain activities.
8. Someone who gives money to children or buys them expensive gifts for no known reason.
9. A person who is overly affectionate with children. This might include kissing, tickling, hugging, wrestling or touching a child even when the child tells them to stop.
10. Someone who walks in on children in the bathroom.
11. A person who becomes defensive when asked about a child's health or they give conflicting stories about injuries.
12. Habitual sexual offenders of children often gravitate toward postions of trust, in which they are in constant contact with the thier victims, children. It is not unusual that habitual offenders are athletic coaches, teachers, or clergy.
13. Pedosexual offenders often target vulnerable children for abuse. To insure that the offender can effectively "program" and "control" the victim there is usually a grooming process in which the offender evaluates the victim and learns how to manipulate the victim's emotions.
14. Under this pretext an offender will say things like, "This is our little secret," and "I am your friend and you are my friend,".
15. Threats of retaliation directed at the victim if that victim should report the perpetrator are common.

Statistics Concerning Offenders and Their Victims

1. 250,000-500,000 pedophiles reside in the United States. - Source: U.S. Department of Justice
2. Convicted child molesters who abused girls had an average of 52 victims each. Men who molested boys had an astonishing average of 150 victims. - Source: In a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health Dr. Gene G. Abel, Emory University
3. The typical child sex offender molests an average of 60 to 117 children, most of who do not report the offense. - Source: The National Institute of Mental Health, 1988
4. Approximately 95% of teenage prostitutes have been sexually abused. - Source: CT Center for Prevention of Child Abuse, 1992
5. It is estimated that children with disabilities are 4 to 10 times more vulnerable to sexual abuse than their non-disabled peers. - Source: National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse 1992
6. Abuse or neglected children are 67 times more likely to be arrested between ages 9-12 then those who aren’t. - Source: The Child Welfare League.
7. Victimized children had IQ’s 13 points below the general average of 100, as well as severely depressed reading abilities. - Source: The National Institute for Justice, 1991 Cathy Spatz Widom