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Child sexual abuse

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Child sexual abuse (CSA) is the sexual abuse of a minor or, according to the American Psychological Association, sexual activity between a minor and an older person in which the dominant position of the older person is used to coerce or exploit the younger. The assailants can be of either sex as can their targets. Child sexual abuse is illegal in all countries about which information is available. Although these laws differ in detail, all set an age - typically between the typical onset of puberty and the age of majority - under which all sexual contact with adults is deemed abusive. Above this age, sexual contact may be judged abuse depending on the use of violence or coercion or the type of relationship involved. Incest between parents and their children is one universally condemned type of child sexual abuse that is illegal at all ages.

The term includes also the commercial sexual exploitation of children, defined by the International Labour Organization in the text of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999. Child molestation is an informal synonym for child sexual abuse, most often used for sex between adults and young children. A perpetrator of child sexual abuse is known as a child sex offender if convicted, or informally as a child molester.

Effects of sexual abuse on children

A wide range of psychological, emotional, physical, and social effects have been attributed to child sexual abuse, including anxiety, depression, Poor self-esteem, somatic complains, Neurosis, Complex post traumatic stress disorder, Emotional dysregulation, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other more general dysfunctions such as sexualized behavior, school/learning problems, behavior problems and destructive behavior. No casual connections with child sexual abuse have been established for any of the symptoms. There are however also indications that consensual child sexual abuse may be harmless and benefitial for the child involved.

Young children (male or female) who are victims of abuse by their mothers or other adult females may incur double traumatization due to the widespread denial of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse by non-abusing parents, professional caregivers and the general public. Some studies have shown that much of the negative effect associated with CSA is caused by the negative family environment that is often also present for children who are abused. (Rind et al. 1998) Those studies also suggested that the negative effects of CSA were smaller and that some groups of children were not negatively affected by being abused.

Wakefield and Underwager (1991) note the difference between CSA experiences of males and females, where more males than females report the experience as neutral or positive, saying that "It may be that women perceive such experiences as sexual violation, while men perceive them as sexual initiation." Rind et al. (1998) showed that this difference was present in 59 college studies on the issue, showing that males who claimed that their abuse was consensual were not significantly less well adjusted than the norm. Draucker (1992) had previously argued that sexual abuse against both boys and girls had similar effects, and that "initiation" was part of the myth that males are always the initiators of sex and cannot be abused. Crawford (1997) asserts that our socially repressed view of female and maternal sexuality conceals both the reality of female sexual pathologies and the damage done by female sexual abuse to children. Denov (2004) notes that the topic of female sex offending is one that is barely "beginning" to be studied and is a phenomenon that causes surprise, shock and utter revulsion even among counseling professionals.

This could explain the problems sexual abuse victims have with regulation of mood and other limbic functions, especially as exhibited in borderline personality disorder. Other studies also indicate that the psychological trauma caused by sexual abuse can lead to temporal lobe epilepsy, damage to the cerebellar vermis, along with reduced size of the corpus callosum. Children who had suffered only sexual abuse showed somewhat greater damage than children who had suffered only non-sexual physical abuse. However, the most dramatic effects were seen in those who had suffered both sexual and physical abuse. Male and female victims were similarly affected. More recent studies indicate that sexual or physical abuse in children can lead to the overexcitation of an undeveloped limbic system . Twin studies have suggested that the variations may be explained by genetics. The theory that stress is causing brain damage is implausible accordig to Harvard Professor Richard McNally. However, there is substantal evidence that traumatic stress causes notable changes in brain functioning and development

Other studies also indicate that the psychological trauma caused by sexual abuse can lead to temporal lobe epilepsy, damage to the cerebellar vermis, along with reduced size of the corpus callosum. Children who had suffered only sexual abuse showed somewhat greater damage than children who had suffered only non-sexual physical abuse. However, the most dramatic effects were seen in those who had suffered both sexual and physical abuse. Male and female victims were similarly affected.

Offenders

Offenders are more likely to be relatives or acquaintances of their victim than strangers. Most reported offenders are male; the percentage of incidents of sexual abuse by female perpetrators is usually reported to be between 1% and 6%, though this low figure may be distorted by under-reporting of sexual contact between women and minors. This under-reporting has been attributed to cultural denial of female-perpetrated child sex abuse. Most men formerly involved in woman-boy sexual relations evaluate their experience as positive upon reflection.

Typology

Typologies for child sex offenders have been used since the 1970s. Male Offenders are typically classified by their motivation, which is usually assessed by reviewing their offense's characteristics. Phallometric tests may also be used to determine the abuser's level of pedophilic interest. Groth et al. proposed a simple, dichotomous system in 1982 which classed offenders as either "regressed" or "fixated." Research on child sex abuse by females is beginning despite widespread denial about its very existence.

There are three categorizations of sex offenders against minors studied in the field of criminal psychology. The first two are major while the third is minor.

Regressed offenders

Regressed offenders are primarily attracted to their own age group but are passively aroused by minors (pseudo-pedophiles and pseudo-ephebophiles).

  • The sexual attraction in minors is not manifested until adulthood.
  • Their sexual conduct until adulthood is aligned with that of their own age group.
  • Their interest in minors is either not cognitively realized until well into adulthood or it was recognized early on and simply suppressed due to social taboo.

Other scenarios may include:

  • Not associating their attractions as pedosexual or ephebosexual in nature due to cultural differences.
  • Age of consent laws were raised in their jurisdiction but mainstream views toward sex with that age group remained the same, were acted upon, then they were charged with a crime.
  • The person's passive interest in children is manifested temporarily upon the consumption of alcohol and acted upon while inhibitions were low.

Some view regressed offenders as people who are unable to maintain adult sexual relationships and so the offender substitutes an adult with a minor. This appears to be a flawed concept since it would suggest the offender was primarily pedosexual/ephebosexual and they would thus fit into the fixated category.

Fixated offenders

Fixated offenders are most often adult pedophiles who are maladaptive to accepted social norms. This type of offender may identify with children, in other words considers him or herself to be like a child and thus seeks sexual relationships with what the offender perceives to be other children. The sexual acts are typically preconceived and are not alcohol or drug related.

Variation in cultural practices, norms and research findings

Between cultural relativists and cultural universalists there is no consensus whether and which among different past or present cultural practices in Western or non-Western societies can be defined as abusing either general universalistic human rights or special universalistic rights of minors. As a result, there is no generally accepted definition which of them can be listed as child sexual abuse.

In different cultures the practices sanctioned by cultural norms involve for example cutting and bleeding of the genitals, female genital cutting, circumcision (of males), castration, infibulation, sexual relationships between adolescent boys and adult men sanctioned by the state and sanctified by religion in ancient Greece. In Japan, sexual relationship between adolescent boys and adult monks in feudal Japan were tolerated, if not encouraged. Again child prostitution is somewhat tolerated in abjectively poor societies as a way for children to support their families. Remedies against masturbation (once named 'self-abuse'), ritual fellation by youths (found in some Oceanic cultures ), etc.

Green (2002) notes that sexual interactions between adults and children were commonplace and accepted in a variety of archaic cultures, including that of the Siwans, Arrernte aborigines, Native Hawaiians, and Polynesians.

Epidemiology

Goldman (2000) notes that "the absolute number of children being sexually abused each year has been almost impossible to ascertain" and that "there does not seem to be agreement on the rate of children being sexually abused". A meta-analytic study by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998) found that reported prevalence of abuse for males ranged from 3% to 37%, and for females from 8% to 71% with mean rates of 17% and 28% respectively. Significant underreporting of sexual abuse of boys by both women and men is believed to occur due to gender steoreotyping, social denial and 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 female-female child sex abuse. A study by Fromuth and Burkhart (1987) found that depending upon the definition of CSA used, prevalence among men varied from 4% to 24%. Bert Kutchinsky goes even further and states that the real number may be as low as 1-2%.

Legal definition (U.S.)

In every state and federal jurisdiction of the United States, the law states that a minor below the age of consent in that state or jurisdiction cannot consent to sexual activity of any sort involving a partner (with certain exceptions). Such sexual activity is legally considered child abuse. However, state laws usually treat an adult who performs sexual activity with a minor under the age of consent differently from two minors under the age of consent who perform sexual activity with each other. Also, if the minor in question is a preadolescent child then it is generally treated differently then sexual activities with an adolescent under the age of consent. Sexual activities between an adult and an adolescent minor under the age of consent are generally covered under statutory rape laws. Illegal sexual activities involving an adult and a minor are generally categorized as a sex offense. Depending on the penal code of the jurisdiction in which the crime occurs, the specific charges against the adult may include, for example, rape/sexual assault, sexual abuse of a child, incest, or lewd acts. Incest or child sexual abuse by parents (or other related adult relatives) to related children is a crime in all states. However, a decided legal double standard exists in most states that favors parents who rape or molest their own children as opposed to unrelated adults to who rape or molest others' children. In many states, the legal age of consent is higher if the adult is in a position of authority over the minor, such as a teacher or employer.

Some states have special rules when the two parties are close in age. For example, Iowa exempts the older partner from being charged with a sex offense if they are close in age, and force or coercion are not used.

These protections are not consistently available in all states. Young people are often punished for being sexual with themselves and consenting partners of the same age. Teens have been fined, imprisoned, and labeled as sexual offenders for crimes such as taking pictures of themselves and engaging in consensual activity with others. Sometimes a couple under the age of consent are charged as each being both victims and rapists of each other at the same time.

American age of consent laws may or may not apply to emancipated minors, particularly married or divorced individuals under the age of consent. Emancipated minors, including married or divorced teenagers, are legally adults. A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case (Lawrence v. Texas) implies that adults have the right to sexual relations with other adults. Whether or not a 40 year old man having sex with an underaged divorced woman is legal is untested. Likewise, incest between emancipated minors and other adult family members is also legally untested.

Penalties (U.S.)

Penalties for child sexual abuse crimes vary from state to state. The specific crimes for which the child sex offender has been convicted determine the sentence the offender will serve. Examples of criminal penalties include imprisonment, as well as post-release conditions, such as parole supervision and registration as a sex offender. The trend has been towards progressively longer prison sentences, especially for long-term or repeat offenders.

The victim can also sue the offender in civil court for the injuries the victim suffered. A civil lawsuit can result in additional penalties for the offender, such as the payment of monetary damages to the victim.

Offenders may be subject to penalties outside the court system. The 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (H.R.4472) authorizes the indefinite involuntary commitment of "sexually dangerous persons" whom the State determines are "dangerous to others because of a mental illness, abnormality, or disorder that creates a risk that the individual will engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation." A "sexually dangerous person" is defined as a "a person who has engaged or attempted to engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation and who is sexually dangerous to others."

Prohibited activities

The activities identified as sexual abuses of a children vary between countries. In the United States, sexual activity of any kind is generally prohibited between an adult and a person under the age of consent. Examples of prohibited activities:

  • sexual contact between related adults and related children which is incest
  • sexual intercourse (oral, anal or vaginal) with any person under the age of consent, which is between 14 and 18 years in the U.S., depending in which state the intercourse occurs.
  • soliciting sexual activity from a child,
  • contact with a child's genitals for the purpose of sexual gratification,
  • inducing a child to touch his/her genitals or another's genitals for the purpose of sexual gratification,
  • acting as a pimp for prostituted child
  • inducing a child to behave sexually in a performance, or to watch any kind of sexual behavior,
  • inducing a child to appear in child pornography,
  • lewd acts with children, including disseminating pornography to a minor.

Most state laws either provide exceptions for legitimate behavior, such as changing a diaper or giving a legitimate medical examination, or specifically require the activity to be sexually motivated.

Offences in the UK

Sexual offences involving children in the United Kingdom is prosecuted under a number different types of offence defined by a succession of Acts of Parliament. Examples in England and Wales include:

Examples for Scotland include:

References

  1. Kendall-Tacket, K. A., Williams, L. M., & Finkelhor. D. (1993). Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children: A Review and Synthesis of Recent Empirical Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 1993, Vol. 113, No. 1, 164-180.
  2. Money, J. (1983). Juvenile, Pedophile, Heterophile: Hermeneutics of Science, Medicine and Law in Two Outcome Studies. International Journal of Medicine and Law, 1983 No. 2. pp. 39-54.
  3. Crawford, (1997) Forbidden Femininity: Child Sexual Abuse and Female Sexuality
  4. McNally, R. (2003). Remembering Trauma. Harvard University Press, 2003.
  5. Developing Mind, Daniel Siegel, Guilford Press, 1999
  6. The Boy who was raised as a dog, Bruce Perry, Ph.D., MD., 2007
  7. Fergusson, D. M., Lynskey, M. T., and Horwood L. J. (1996). "Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: I. Prevalence of sexual abuse and factors associated with sexual abuse." In the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(10), 1355-64.
  8. M. Baurmann, Sexualitdt, Gewalt und psychische Folgen. Eine- Langsschttutenterstichting bei Opfem sexueller Gewalt und sextieller Nortnverletziit~g anhand von angezeigten Sexualkontakten (Wiesbaden: Bundeskriminalamt, 1983); Committee on Sexual Offences: Sexual Offences against Children. Report of the Committee on Sexual Offences against Children and Youth (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, Canada, 1984); M. DeYoung The Sexual Victimization of Children Oefferson (N.E.), London: McForland, 1982); D. Finkelhor and D. Russell, "Women as Perpetrators: Review of the Evidence," in D. Finkelhor (ed.), Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory and Research (New York: Free Press, 1984); G. Kercher and M. McShane, "Characterizing Child Sexual Abuse on the Basis of a MultiAgency Sample," in Victimology 9/1984, pp. 364-382; H. Niemann, Unzuch mit Kindern. Eine kritninolegische Untersuchung unter Venvendung Hambuger Cerichtsaktert aus den jahren 1965 und 1967 (G6ttingen: Schwartz, 1974). 3. J. Marvasti, 9ncestuous Mothers," in Americanjournal of Forensic Psychiatry 7/1986, pp. 63-69; L.M. McCarthy, "Mother-Child Incest: Characteristics of the Offencler," in Child Wefflare 65/1986, pp. 4-47-458.
  9. Knopf, M. (1993): Sexuelle Kontakte zwischen Frauen und Kindern - Überlegungen zu einem nicht zustandegekommenen Forschungsprojekt ("Sexual contacts between women and children: Thoughts on a research study that failed"), in: Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung ("Journal of Sexuology"), no. 6, 23-35.
  10. Denov, Myriam S. (2004) "Perspectives on Female Sex Offending: A Culture of Denial"
  11. S.R. Condy, Parameters of Heterosexual Molestation of Boys (Dissertation, Frenso: California School of Professional Psychology, 1985); S.R. Condy, D.I. Ternpler, R. Brown, and L. Veaco, 'Tarameters of Sexual Contact of Boys with Women," in Archives of Sexual Behavior 16/1987, pp. 379-395.
  12. Terry, Karen J., and Tallon, Jennifer. "Child Sexual Abuse: A Review of the Literature."
  13. Groth, A.N., Hobson, W.F. and Gary, T.S. (1982). "The child molester: clinical observations." In Journal of Social Work and Child Sexual Abuse, 1(1/2), 129-144.
  14. Denov, Myriam S. (2004) "Perspectives on Female Sex Offending: A Culture of Denial"
  15. Green, Richard (2002). "Is pedophilia a mental disorder?", Archives of Sexual Behavior. 31 (6). 467-471.
  16. Kutchinsky, B. (1992). The Child Sexual Abuse Panic. Nordisk Sexologi 10 (1) 30, 1992.
  17. Sealey, Geraldine Imprisoned Teen Challenges Kansas ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Law ABC News, January 17, 2003, "Most states have some kind of 'Romeo and Juliet' law..."
  18. Iowa Code 1999 Section 709.4
  19. Jimmy Ryce Civil commitment program, Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006, H.R. 4472.
  • Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect "American Academy of Pediatrics: Guidelines for the Evaluation of Sexual Abuse of Children: Subject Review" Pediatrics 103 (1) January 1999, pp. 186-191
  • Denov, Myriam, S. Perspectives on Female Sex Offending: A Culture of Denial, Ashgate, 2004.
  • Crawford, Colin, Forbidden Feminity: Child Sexual Abuse and Female Sexuality, Ashgate, 1997.
  • Draucker, Claire. Counselling Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. SAGE Publications 1992 ISBN 0-8039-8571-1
  • Herdt, Gilbert H. (ed.) "Fetish and fantasy in Sambia initiation". In Rituals of Manhood: Male Initiation in Papua New Guinea. Pp. 44-98. Berkeley: University of California Press 1982. ISBN 0-520-04448-7
  • Smith D., Pearce L., Pringle M., Caplan R., "Adults with a history of child sexual abuse: evaluation of a pilot therapy service" BMJ 1995;310:1175-1178
  • Kisiel, C. L. and Lyons, J. S., "Dissociation as a Mediator of Psychopathology Among Sexually Abused Children and Adolescents" Am. J. of Psychiatry 158:1034-1039, July 2001
  • Underwager, Ralph and Wakefield, Hollida, "Antisexuality and Child Sexual Abuse" IPT Volume 5 - 1993
  • Rind, Bruce and Tromovitch, Philip and Bauserman, Robert "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples" http://www.tegenwicht.org/13_rbt_eng/rbt/metaana.htm
  • Eric Vern L. Bullough and Bonnie Bullough, "Problems of Research into Adult/Child Sexual Interaction" IPT Volume 8 - 1996
  • Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions (). Edited by Feierman JR. New York, Springer-Verlag, 1990
  • Juliette D. G. Goldman and Usha, K. Padayachi, "Some Methodological Problems in Estimating Incidence and Prevalence in Child Sexual Abuse Research". Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 2000
  • Fromuth, M.E. and Burkhart, B.R., "Childhood sexual victimization among college men: definitional and methodological issues". Violence and Victims 1987; 2:241-253

See also

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