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Child abuse - sexual

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Alternative Names:

Sexual abuse - children

Definition:

Child sexual abuse is the deliberate exposure of minor children to sexual activity. This means a child is forced or talked into sex or sexual activities by another person. Such abuse includes touching (fondling), sexual intercourse, oral sex, pornography, and other sexual activity.

With the exception of sexual abuse among family members (incestuous relationships), child sexual abuse was not clearly described until the late 1970s. The problem is far more common than had been thought. Indeed, the medical literature up through the mid-1970s contained articles about children and sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea. However, there was no discussion of how the children caught such disease. There was great reluctance in society to deal with this issue, but after 30 years of examination worldwide, child sexual abuse is now considered a serious issue.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

It is difficult to determine how common child sexual abuse is. It is often more secret than physical abuse. Children are often scared to tell someone about the event. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, it is reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the actual number of unreported events is probably much higher.

Abusers are usually men. They usually know the person they are abusing. This is the case in 80 to 90% of cases. Because the abuser violates the trust of the younger person, it makes the sexual abuse even more psychologically devastating.

Child sexual abuse occurs in all social and economic classes of people, but it has the same type of risk factors as physical child abuse , including poverty, disordered families, and abuse of alcohol and street drugs. Abusers often have a history of physical or sexual abuse themselves.

A small group of repeated abusers suffer from the psychiatric disorder pedophilia, in which the preferred sexual contact is with children.

• Review Date: 1/22/2007
• Reviewed By: Leisha M. Andersen, M.D., Private Practice specializing in Pediatrics, Denver, CO. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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