ART 3170 Civic Engagement: Social Issues "Action" Project: child molestation/sexual abuse (MC)

What is child molestation/sexual abuse?

Child molestation/sexual abuse is a form of child abuse that includes sexual activity with a minor typically under the age of 14. When a perpetrator engages with a child this way, they are committing a crime that can have lasting effects on the victim for years. Child sexual abuse does not always include physical contact between a perpetrator and a child.

RESEARCH

In many cases 90% of the time the perpetrators are someone the child or family knows. A perpetrator can have any relationship to the child including an older sibling, family member, a teacher, a coach or instructor, a caretaker, or the parent of another child. According to 1 in 6, “[Child] sexual abuse is the result of abusive behavior that takes advantage of a child’s vulnerability and is in no way related to the sexual orientation of the abusive person.”

-8 percent of males and 12 percent of females experience penetrative child sexual abuse

-16 percent of males and up to 36 percent of females experience non-penetrative child sexual abuse

Victims:

Females are more at risk than males.
Children who are victims of other forms of crime, violence and abuse are more at-risk.

Perpetrators:

Men perpetrate most sexual abuse and sex crimes.
Sex offenders against children tend to be juveniles or young adults under the age of 30.

Many times perpetrators manipulate into telling the victim “it’s our secret” just so the child/teen can stay quiet. They tend to make their victims believe it’s what they wanted or it’s something they asked for. But most sexual abuse often involves forms of manipulation, in which the child is coerced into believing that the activity is an expression of love.

Why this is important to me?

This issue is important for me because I was a victim of sexual abuse in my teenage years. At the time everything happened I was very confused and didn’t know what was going to happen with myself. As a victim, the best choice I did was not staying quiet. After receiving the correct help I wasn’t and didn’t feel alone. I think it’s very important for victims not to feel alone. It’s very important to not stay quiet and do something about even if its family, friends, acquaintance, etc. Speaking from my experience I feel like this really is an issue within the community because children and teens go through sexual abuse every day. By learning the early warning signs and how to effectively step in and speak up, sexual abuse can be stopped before it starts and a child is harmed. As an adult now I feel like we must take responsibility for preventing child abuse by speaking to our kids and addressing what sexual abuse is and that it doesn’t necessarily need to mean there will always be physical contact. Showing them they will always have our support if they ever need to speak to someone if someone ever makes them uncomfortable. And most importantly let them know that if they already unfortunately went through it, it was NOT their fault! A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity, period.