The risk of child sexual abuse - real or imaginary?
Children are paramount and that must be our focus.
The risk of child sexual abuse - real or imaginary?Children are paramount and that must be our focus. |
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The risk of child abuse is very real and the perpetrator is more than likely
to be known to the family hence the difficulty for the child. Exploitation by
adults who are in a position of trust is skilfully manipulated and the child
can be into a working situation through believing that the adult loves him/her
more than any other member of the family. People are more aware of child abuse
and are beginning to realise that the abuser is now always stereotyped, (i.e.
black coat, long dirty hair). The media must police itself and understand that
the majority of children can read and use the Internet.
The 9 o'clock watershed is a farce as often programmes are on TV before this
time with sex and violence. Also people who are high profile e.g. pop stars,
actors should also be aware of how much they influence youth. In England today
the age of consent to sex between boy and girl, gay or straight is 16 years
old. Throughout the world the age of consent differ (www.Avert.org. worldwide
age of consent).
We are aware that travel and holidays encourage child abuse in countries where
the age limit is low and prostitution is accepted. For example, Thailand has
about 7.5million tourists a year but 5 million are unattached males. We also
know that sometimes children who are abused may go on to abuse themselves when
they reach adulthood.
Ethnicity and effect of age?
Ethnic minorities do tend to live in similar areas and also family groups live
together. As with a lot of religions, underage sex or sex before marriage is
not tolerated or advocated and the sexes do not mix without chaperones. To begin
to discuss child sexual abuse is very difficult when any form or pre-marital
sex is not only accepted but believed not to exist.
Child sexual abuse knows no age culture or boundaries. Between the age of 0-4
years, children are unable to make decisions as to their daily lives. They rely
completely on the adults who care for them. This relates to diet and recreation
and it is at this time that future patterns are put into place. When children
enter the scene of education they may still be not aware that the mode of life
differs from their friends at school. Puberty and some sex education lessons
at late primary school are often the time of realisation that not all families
are the same.
On entering senior school when children tend to share experiences the children
becomes aware that all is not right. The path that the child may now take is
unpredictable and may lead to self-harm, child prostitution and multiple partners
and due to low self esteem often a teenage pregnancy.
Which gender is at greater risk?
All young children are at risk of abuse in many forms. This could be physical/mental
or both. It also implies to a child who observes physical/mental abuse, which
is subjected not to them but to another member of the family. This is often
carried onto their own relationships in adult life. Boys as well as girls are
at risk and although this may continue into teens often the boy may break away
first as he matures and has physical strength. This may be more difficult for
the females.
Child sexual abuse and future psychological health:
Child abuse is an old problem and has not always been acknowledged. Society
in the past has always turned a blind eye.
Young children often pre Junior or Senior school level were never aware that
they were being abused until realising that this was not the 'norm' in other
families.
Children are taught to listen to adults, not to answer back and to do as they
are told. It is difficult for a child to talk to an adult about another adult.
They often share the situation with other siblings or friends and these friends
can become mentally amused due to carrying this secret for their sibling, often
for a long time.
In abusive or violent situations the child may often accept the abuse as a form
of affection but on the part of the adult this is just control. Children who
have been abused lose a lot of self-esteem and turn to adults in teen years
for affection and cannot differentiate between manipulation and coercion. Often
the promise of "easy " money may lead the young person into prostitution,
which becomes a vicious circle and, without help it becomes very difficult to
break from the situation.
Child Protection Policy - Is it working?
We don't know, but we hope it is. There are lots of areas to know. We would
hope that the policy is working but everything we use can always be improved.
Also we don't know if it works until we have to use it.
Wherever you work you should know the policy for your area and who to contact
if advice is needed or you have cause for concern.
For whose benefit - child parents, teachers, others
The child must always be the main priority in all to do for any cause for concern
or worry. In all forms of medicine the child protection act supersedes all other
Acts of Parliament. Children may be in care for many reasons not necessarily
that they have been abused and all things necessary must be ensured to keep
those children safe, i.e. Police clearance. The family also needs protection
as any false claims may affect the family unit in the future.
Whose responsibility?
Every person should be responsible for the well being of children. Often an
abuser is not exposed until they die and then the family has no one to ask so
they will not believe and the family is split. Denial is a big part in child
abuse and often an event in a child's life brings back all memories. This could
be a death of a family member or the birth of a child as this can give a worry
as to whether the cycle will continue.
What should society do with paedophiles? Castration!
To talk about castration is always an emotive subject as this a knee jerk reaction.
Chemical castration is with medication and who would supervise this? Surgical
castration may be an answer but people do not need a penis to abuse a child
(women have no penis?). People need to be aware of where their children are,
believe the child and don’t stereotype.
What are the roles of professionals - teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers,
priests: Education of professionals is very important and to be aware of the
child protection policy and know whom to talk to if information should come
your way.
You should give the child the confidence to show that you have listened and
that they can come back to you at any time. They need to understand that adults
can be trusted and not all will let them down. For a long time the children
would have felt very vulnerable and we need to give them a sense of safety in
a non-judgemental environment.
(This was part of the workshop on Child sexual abuse which S. Relph acted as the facilitator during the 4th Teesside Sexual Health Conference on 15th March 2003.)
©2001 Sexual Health Matters. Published Quarterly by Express Print Works, Middlesbrough,
UK
ISSN 1469-7556
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