Child sexual abuse or child molestation is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older

adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or
pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities, indecent exposure to a child with intent to gratify
their own sexual desires or to intimidate or groom the child, physical sexual contact with a child, or
using a child to produce child pornography.
1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse.
Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood
sexual assault or sexual abuse incident.
During a one-year period in the U.S., 16% of youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized.
Over the course of their lifetime, 28% of U.S. youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized.
Children are most vulnerable to Child Sexual Abuse between the ages of 7 and 13.
Two types of families prone to child sexual abuse
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Patriarcal: The father is a dominant figure and its behavior is authoritarian and even violent.
The mother, however, is passive or submissive, and usually has physical or psychological
conditions that place it in a marginal position within the group. In these families, a daughter
replaces the mother, also taking the appropriate sexual role.
Matriarchal: The mother is the dominant figure, although it is often away from home for
work, and father adopts a subordinate and dependent regarding her position so that it aligns
with the children psychologically. In these families, the father seeks emotional solace in a
daughter, which often leads to incest.

Abusers
One researcher stated that more than 70% of abusers are immediate family members or someone
very close to the family.
The molesters are mostly men (approximately 87%) married and family or relatives of the child, so
they have a previous relationship of trust (only between 15 and 35 % of sexual assaults are
complete strangers to the child).
Abusive women are usually older women who commit abuse on teenagers.
Significant underreporting of sexual abuse of boys by both women and men is believed to occur due
to sex stereotyping, social denial, the minimization of male victimization, and the relative lack of
research on sexual abuse of boys. Sexual victimization of boys by their mothers or other female
relatives is especially rarely researched or reported. Sexual abuse of girls by their mothers, and
other related and/or unrelated adult females is beginning to be researched and reported despite the
highly taboo nature of femalefemale child sex abuse. In studies where students are asked about sex
offenses, they report higher levels of female sex offenders than found in adult reports. This
underreporting has been attributed to cultural denial of female-perpetrated child sex abuse, because

"males have been socialized to believe they should be flattered or appreciative of sexual interest
from a female."
A study comparing middle-aged women who were abused as children with non-abused counterparts
found significantly higher health care costs for the former.
Males who were sexually abused as children more frequently appear in the criminal justice system
than in a clinical mental health setting.
There are two major types of evidence that may suggest the existence of sexual abuse of a minor:
behavioral problems and emotional difficulties.
In the first type include, among others , problems such as school failure , refusal to talk or interact
emotionally with others, the tendency to lie, sexual promiscuity and excessive reactivity , attacks of
anger, self-injurious behavior, tendency to leak and vagrancy , etc.
In the second type problems such as depression , anxiety , low self-esteem , feelings of
helplessness , difficulty trusting others , certain psychosomatic symptoms ( pain in various parts of
the body, for example) , sleep disorders or are on the contrary , constant desire to take refuge in it ,
etc.
Single-parent homes are likely to have the parent absent a good portion of the time because she or
he must work to provide all the basic necessities for the family. Unfortunately, the children of this
absentee parent will likely be looking for an adult to bond with, to share experiences with.
"Predators are pretty good at finding and grooming these sorts of kids.
Responses to Child sexual abuse:

Low self-esteem or self-hatred

Survivors may suffer from depression

Guilt, shame and blame

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Survivors may feel guilt or shame because they made no direct attempt to stop
the abuse or because they experienced physical pleasure
Sleep disturbances / disorders

Survivors may have trouble sleeping because of the trauma, anxiety or may
directly be related to the experience they had as a child; children may be sexually
abused in their own beds.
Lack of trust for anyone

Many survivors were betrayed by the very people they are dependent upon
(family, teachers etc.) who cared for them, who insisted they loved them even while

abusing them; learning to trust can be extremely difficult under these

circumstances.
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93% of victims under the age of 18 know their attacker.ii

Revictimization

Many survivors as adults find themselves in abusive, dangerous situations or

relationships.

Woman who were sexually assaulted before the age of 18 [are] twice as likely
to report being raped as adults.iii

Flashbacks
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Many survivors re-experience the sexual abuse as if it were occurring at that

moment, usually accompanied by visual images of the abuse. These flashes of
images are often triggered by an event, action, or even a smell that is reminiscent of
the sexual abuse of the abuser.
Dissociation

Many survivors go through a process where the mind distances itself from the
experience because it is too much for the psyche to process at the time. This loss of
connection with thoughts, memories, feelings, actions or sense of identity, is a
coping mechanism and may affect aspects of a survivor's functioning.
Sexuality / Intimacy

Many survivors have to deal with the fact that their first sexual encounter was
a result of abuse. Such memories may interfere with the survivor's ability to engage
in sexual relationships, which may bring about feelings of fright, frustration, or
being ashamed.