DaeHyeon Mun
Prof. Paul Merluzzo
1020 ENG Comp
Oct. 22th. 2014
Child sexual abuse
In today’s society, child abuse is a big issue. People argue that child abuse has to be eliminated because it is a brutal crime that has corrosive influence on our society. Children are the future of mankind, so they have to be taken care of by human society. Even animals, they know that it is priority to protect their cubs. However, some adults abuse children sexually in order to savor themselves of many pleasures. Some children live in pain every day emotionally, sexually and physically. Especially, sexual abuse is worst thing. As a result of this abuse, a lot of children are suffering from abnormal sexuality. To inform the reader about this cruel crime, in this research paper, I will define sexual child abuse, what effects are children influenced by sexual abuse, who are usually perpetrators, tragic cases of child sexual abuse in schools, and what safety measures should exist in schools to protect children from sexual abuse.
According to the Wikipedia dictionary, the definition of child sexual abuse is a type of child abuse in which an adult or elder adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation (Wikipedia). “Sexual abuse refers to the participation of a child in a sexual act aimed toward the physical gratification or the financial profit of the person committing the act” (Wikipedia). “Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities, indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual sexual contact with a child, physical contact with the child's genitals, viewing of the child's genitalia without physical contact, or using a child to produce child pornography” (Wikipedia). Selling the sexual services of children may be viewed and treated as child abuse with services provided to the child rather than simple imprisonment (Wikipedia).
People assume that the perpetrators must be strangers, but most perpetrators are acquaintances or the children’s family. According to the Wikipedia, in the United States, “about 15% to 25% of women and 5% to 15% of men were sexually abused when they were kids” (Wikipedia). “Most sexual abuse criminals are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often brothers, fathers, mothers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbor” (Wikipedia). “Strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases” (Wikipedia). In over one-third of cases, the offender is also a minor (Wikipedia). “In 1999s the BBC reported on the RAHI Foundation's survey of sexual abuse in India, in which 76% of respondents said they had been abused as children, 40% of those stating the perpetrator was a family member” (Wikipedia).
According to Wikipedia, “the effects of child sexual abuse on the victims include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, fear of things associated with the abuse (including objects, smells, places, doctor's visits, etc.), self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, addiction, self-injury, suicidal ideation, somatic complaints, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, other mental illnesses including borderline personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder, propensity to re-victimization in adulthood, bulimia nervosa, and physical injury to the child, among other problems” (Wikipedia).
In their article, “The Causes of Prostitution: An Overview”, Lisa A. Kramer and Ellen C. Berg argue that “childhood sexual abuse is in connection with greater weakness to re-victimization in adulthood; including involvement in sex work” (Kramer, Berg). “It has been well documented that women in whoredom have high rates of sexual abuse” (Kramer, Berg). “Sexual abuse in childhood can change an individual's orientation to the world and can distort their self-concept and emotional