Exploring Child Abuse

Dec 18, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Despite its prevalence, our culture is one that continues to misunderstand what constitutes child sexual abuse. This is in part, due to many elements of it being rationalized and deemed as normal or cultural as is seen in the arguments for child marriages and adult relationships with teenagers. Unfortunately, these beliefs persist as we continue to live in a culture where abusers are frequently protected while those who survive them are blamed.
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) occurs when an adult or someone older than the child engages in sexual activity with a child younger than 18 years old. If the child is the same age or very near in age, a grey area develops as this is often innocent exploration rather than abuse.
CSA however, can take several forms and is often grouped into touching and non-touching abuse. Touching includes physical contact with a child’s genitals, making the child touch someone else’s genitals, playing sexual games and/or placing body parts onto or into the child. Non-touching abuse often includes things such as showing pornography to a child; exposing a child to someone’s genitals and/or watching a child undress or use the bathroom. One of the main things to keep in mind about sexual abuse is that literally anyone can be an abuser, regardless of the way they act, look or the societal respect they might have. While sexual abuse occurs in every space and at every age, children between the ages of seven and thirteen are the ones that are most vulnerable to abuse.
Child sexual abuse is a bit different from adult sexual abuse, as force is rarely the major element. Rather, abusers would seek to manipulate the child in an effort to lower their defenses and isolate them from those who can effectively support them. Abusers are often known and trusted caregivers with incest/interfamilial abuse accounting for one third of all sexual abuse cases. Another way in which CSA is often different from that of adult SA is the frequency with which it can occur as sexual abuse of children occurs over a long period of time. The process of grooming contributes towards the building of trust between the abuser and the child, often making it difficult for children to recognize what is happening.

These negative experiences can have long-term impacts on the physical and mental wellbeing of children and can result in them being at increased risk of suicide, substance abuse, depression and post traumatic stress disorder and other chronic health conditions. This impacts their sense of self, security and wellbeing.
Becoming more aware about the various types of CSA, strategies of abusers and those who are most vulnerable can aid significantly in protecting children from violence and creating a safer environment for all.
Regards
Akola Thompson
Blue Umbrella Consultant, ChildLinK
To report or seek counseling, please call 914/227-0979/227-2023/233-3500