Ana Pinto, Joely Ramos, Gabriela

Rivas, Joselyn Romero, Keishla Santiago

Ortiz, & Robert Silverio
INTRO TO SOCIAL WORK SUSAN MANKITA

Child Sexual Abuse and Its Effects

Prevalence & Resilience
Education
Relationships
Mental Health
Emotional Stress
After 18/Adult Life

More than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies every year

Major factors that puts a child at risk:

Childs age

Intimate Partner Violence

Caregivers with mental and addiction problems

Common beliefs are:

I cant count on no one for love, guidance, and support

Its ok to be abused

They deserve it

Justify the abusers treatment by blaming themselves

Quality parenting & programming is one of the most important factors

Abused children exposed to positive and supporting relationships at home, day

care, & school could drastically increase the childs resilience adaptability.

Most studies have established a high correlation between

child sexual abuse and poor educational attainment.
Results of a study demonstrated that children who had a
history of sexual abuse had trouble in qualifying for
secondary school.
Children who have been sexually abused in the past are
less likely to gain a high school diploma therefore they
have lower chances of qualifying for a university degree.

Victims of sexual abuse are likely to develop social

barricades among peers.
Children idolize their parents feeling warmth and safe
among them but when the trust is violated through abuse,
children develop a negative schema which can eventually
prohibit them from establishing and building significant
attachments and relationships in the future.
Children that experience abuse tend to develop negative
behavioral responses due to feeling betrayal from a parent
or care giver and usually have attention deficiencies and
can become violent .
Social workers as well as organizations aim to counsel new
parents to prevent underlying situations that may lead to
abuse.

Some abused children develop Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder (PTSD), Cognitive Distortions, Emotional Distress,
Impaired Sense of Self and Interpersonal problems.
Psychological effects such as depression, personal disorder,
relationship difficulties, fear and isolation are some of the
effects that are linked with child abuse. Study using ACE
found that 54% of depression and 58% of suicide attempts
in women were are linked to adverse childhood
experiences (Felitti & Anda, 2009).
Therapy helps children stop identifying themselves with
what has happened and focus on building healthy mental
habits.

 When

researchers
examined the connection
between child abuse and
co-existing substance
abuse disorder and mental
illness, researchers
concluded that adults
exposed to abuse, have
significantly higher risks
of developing comorbid
substance and mental
illness.

A child that has experienced sexual abuse

and survived will eventually grow up and
have to live with their situation.

Therapy is helpful in teaching victims

how to cope and live with what has
happened, but in many case studies we
see that nothing can un-do what has been
done even though they can continue to
live a normal life.

Since most cases are caused by family

members, seeing these people later on in
life in places like hospitals and funerals
where mutual family collides, it may
bring up past memories and require
therapy all over again.

Though there is no full healing, recovery

is always the healthiest option.

https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/
for facts and statistics on child abuse
https://kindle.amazon.com
for finding conducted research
https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/mentalhealth/adults-abused-as-children-often-plagued-bymental-illness
studies done on child abuse and mental health
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/long_term_conseq
uences.pdf
effects of child abuse and how neglect may effect
childs adulthood
https://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/docs/librariesprovider16/d
efault-document-library/the-long-shadow-adult-survivorsof-childhood-abuse.pdf?sfvrsn=0
for info on different types of child abuse and neglect

http://www.asca.org.au/WHAT-WEDO/Resources/General-Information/Impact-of-child-abuse
for understanding the behavioral and emotional
consequences of child abuse
https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/can/impact/develop
ment/
impacts on child development
www.d2l.org
consequences of child sexual abuse on education
http://overcomingsexualabuse.com/
a website where victims of abuse share their stories
http://www.stopitnow.org/help-guidance
good for learning how to read signs and react
http://www.nsvrc.org/projects/child-sexual-assaultprevention/preventing-child-sexual-abuse-resources
for frequently asked questions & more resources

We chose to do our project on this area

of social work because of our particular
interest in the Kristi House
Kristi House, Inc
Orlowitz-Lee Childrens Advocacy Center
1265 NW 12th Ave. Miami, Florida 33136

Mrs. Dawn Thompson

Interim Executive Director of
the Children Advocacy Center
named Kristi House

Kristi House is a non profit organization dedicated for small

children to the age of 18 that have been sexually abused.
Founders names are Ellis K. Orlowitz and Enid Lee.
Kristi house provides several programs such as the following;
1. Child abuse advocates
system coordination that include legal, medical and
emotional support for the child
2. Families with Children with Problematic Sexual Behavior
12- 42 week out-patient treatment to help the child or
family that has the issue of inappropriate sexual behavior

3. Sex trafficing advocacy/counseling

Activities for victims such a etiquette classes, helping
victim find jobs etc.

There was a Nine year old little girl playing in the street under very poor condition
and as the little girl turned around, she was noticeably pregnant. When officials got
to her, the little girl spoke and stated that she was 8 months pregnant by her Step
father. The Organization was named after Kristi in order to help many cases similar
to Kristi.
Upon opening the doors to the Center you will read the following;

Mission
Kristi House provides a healing environment for all child victims of sexual abuse
and their families, regardless of income, through prevention, treatment and
coordination of services with our community partners.
Vision
Kristi House strives to end the epidemic of child sexual abuse in Miami-Dade
County by healing those who have been victims and breaking the cycle of abuse
for future generations.
Values
Kristi House is dedicated to respecting, protecting, and healing the children and
families that pass through its doors.

Advocacy
Group therapy
Prevention Outreach

For parents, caregivers, service providers, children,

and officials programs are presented to prevent,
recognize, and react to signs seen in children and
adults that may be a part of sexual abuse situation

Survival Leadership Groups

use the stories of people who have been abused in

their past and are completely healed now in order to
reach out to the children that are going through a
tough time and are reluctant to listening or speaking
to just anyone

 Get

to know the background of your client

Age
Ethnicity
Religion
Education Level

Dont

speak about God unless it is first

initiated by the client
Steer conversations that blame the client for
what has happened in another direction

Some people may believe that this is happening

to them because of karma or this is their destiny

Kristi House has the total amount of

600 800 cases a year and the Main
Challenge is Mother denial. Some
Mothers do not believe therefore
allow their children to go back to the
perpetrator.
90% of child abuse happens within the
child's very own home or family
environment.

 Never

be afraid of speaking about this topic

Always believe your child, you would rather
be wrong than right and have not believed
your child.
Always keep your child close to you and
always supervise what they do in social
media.
Be educated about school policies and what
signs to look for when you are suspicious