Child+Victims+of+Sexual+Abuse

**Child Victims of Sexual Abuse**

media type="custom" key="14024698" align="center"

Sexual Abuse Defined
 * can be by an intimate partner, family member, friend, teacher, doctor or other professional; or a stranger
 * includes:
 * name calling
 * refusal to use contraception
 * intentional cause of physical pain during intercourse
 * intentional transmission of sexual infections/diseases
 * using objects, toys, or other items to cause pain or humiliation.

Child Sexual Abuse Defined

media type="custom" key="14028594" height="30" align="left"
 * fondling under and on-top of clothes
 * sexual intercourse; penetration of mouth
 * engaging child in sexual activity, including masturbation
 * engaging in sexual activity in front of a child
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">using children to create or showing children pornography

<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">Parental inadequacy/unavailability, poor parent-child relationship, are some characteristics of children at risk of sexual abuse <span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;"> (Finkelhor, 1994).

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 200%; text-align: center;">Who Commits Sexual Abuse <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">6 out of 10 are friends of the family, babysitter, or neighbor3 out of 10 are family membersOnly 1 out of 10 cases of sexual abuse have a stranger as the abuserAbusers are mostly menWomen are the abusers in about 14% of cases reported against boys; about 6% of cases reported against girls

[]

media type="custom" key="14028702" align="center"

<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Warning Signs of Child Victims []

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;"> ...there's a lot of opportunity for risk-taking behavior, for self-harm, cutting themselves, suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety. When all of those things go untreated, you can imagine the kind of long-term mental health effects of that.--- <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">//**<span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Teresa Huizar, ** executive director, National Children's Alliance //

<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%; text-align: left;">Children 0-3 years old:

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%; text-align: left;">Children ages 2 to 9: <span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 200%; text-align: left;">Symptoms of sexual abuse in older children and adolescents include:
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Excessive crying
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Feeding/bowel problems
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Sleep disturbances
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Failure to thrive
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Fear
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Bed wetting or stranger anxiety
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Victimization of others
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Excessive masturbation
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Shame or guilt
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Nightmares/sleep disturbances
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Social Withdrawal
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Eating disturbances
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Depressive moods
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Nightmares/sleep disturbances
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Decline in school performance
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Sexual Promiscuity
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Alcohol/Substance abuse
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Anger/Aggression
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Running away
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Eating disturbances
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Early pregnancy
 * <span style="background-color: #babab2; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> Suicidal Behaviors

<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%; text-align: center;">Effects of Sexual Abuse <span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But even if it's not said out loud, the victims often internalize that - you know, we look around the world and say, why me? Why is it happening to me? I must be bad, or there's something wrong with me. I think that's one of the really heartbreaking things to hear in counseling adult and child survivors of victimization, that self-blame and feeling that all along, they were dirty or bad in some way, and that's why this happened. --- <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">//**<span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Mitru Ciarlante, ** Youth Initiative director, National Center for Victims of Crime //

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Sleep Problems (nightmares, falling and staying asleep) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Anxiety  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Guilt, Shame, Self-Blame  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Anger  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Emotional Numbing  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Flashbacks  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Hypervigilence <span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 200%;">**Cycle of Violence**
 * <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">40% of sexual abusers were victims of sexual abuse as children (Vanderbilt, 1992).
 * <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Child victims of sexual abuse are 27.7 times more likely to be arrested for prostitution (Widom, 1995).

media type="custom" key="14028682" align="center"

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Children and adolescents who have been sexually molested, raped, or exploited (child pornography/sex trafficking) experience the **<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">primary losses ** of virginity, purity or innocence (depends on how you look at it-some may say this is childhood).

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Secondary losses ** include loss of trust, loss sense of security, and loss of family members/relationships due to the abuse. Child may withdraw from social interactions and lose friendships or other relationships.

<span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Boys "are more likely than girls to act out in aggressive and antisocial ways as a result of abuse" (Finkelhor, 1994).
 * || Stressors || Processes ||  ||
 * ||  || Adaptive || Maladaptive ||
 * Grief-Oriented || *Emotional
 * Anger
 * Fear


 * Sadness
 * Guilt
 * Shame
 * Physical
 * Sexually Transmitted Disease
 * Pregnancy
 * Social
 * Trust
 * Safety || *Emotional
 * Receive anger management counseling; talk to a trusted adult/friend; engage in activities they enjoy to calm down
 * Surround self with trusted adults/friends; sleep with a night-light/stuffed animal; sleep with parents/in parents room
 * Positive thinking-counseling to understand it is not their fault;


 * Physical
 * Receive adequate medical treatment


 * Social
 * Receive family therapy to develop trust; regain attachment
 * Reporting abuse to receive legal action
 * Surround self with trusted adults who keep child safe and away from exposure to the abuser || *Emotional
 * Fighting/physically attacking others; cursing; threatening; lashing out in aggression
 * Difficulty sleeping (nightmares); anxiety; inability to be interact with people who remind of abuser; alcohol/drug abuse; loss of appetite
 * Shut down (no communication); suicidal behaviors (ideation, threats, attempts)
 * alcohol/drug abuse; suicidal behaviors; social withdrawal; run-away
 * alcohol/drug abuse; suicidal behaviors; social withdrawal; lack of personal hygiene
 * Physical
 * alcohol/drug abuse; sexual promiscuity (to make others hurt they way they hurt)


 * alcohol/drug abuse; unsafe/unsupervised abortion (self-induced; not done in a clinic)
 * Social
 * Social Withdrawal; avoidance; keep abuse to self in order to avoid backlash; run-away ||
 * Life-Oriented || *Social
 * Trust
 * Safety
 * Physical
 * Sexually Transmitted Disease
 * Pregnancy
 * Family || *Social
 * Talk to a parent or close friend; testify in court; receiving counseling-support groups
 * Physial
 * Receive medical attention; take medications as prescribed; identify alternatives-adoption, healthy abortion (abortion clinic);
 * Receive medical attention; take medications as prescribed; identify alternatives-adoption, healthy abortion (abortion clinic);


 * Family
 * Report abuse; receive family counseling; || *Social
 * Social Withdrawal; avoidance; poor relationships-intentional sabotage of relationships
 * Avoidance; inability to form bonds/attachment; intentional sabotage of relationships
 * Physical
 * Sexual promiscuity; prostitution; alcohol/drug abuse; illegal abortion of the fetus


 * prostitution/stripping (to pay for expenses)
 * Family
 * withdrawal; fear; run-away; ||

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; text-align: center;">When children and adolescents are developing, the actual physical structures in their brain are developing much like a house - the wiring, the plumbing, the foundations - and when trauma happens during those crucial developmental times, it's like a wrecking ball. It knocks out those structures and... <span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; text-align: center;">What's amazing is that our minds do some pretty amazing things to help us cope and survive.--- //<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**<span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Mitru Ciarlante, ** Youth Initiative director, National Center for Victims of Crime //

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">What To Do When a Child is Abused <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">media type="custom" key="14028664" <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Report <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Report all incidents of sexual abuse to prevent further abuse or harm to the child. <span style="color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Show Understanding/Assure <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Do not blame child for abuse or make child feel like the abuse is his fault. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Believe Child. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;"> Make the child feel loved. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Reassure the child that the abuse will end/prevent abuse from happening. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Listen to child; Be there; Support; Encourage  <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Protect <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Remove abuser from child's immediate environment if possible (home, school, church, etc). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Learn Warning Signs to prevent abuse or stop abuse as soon as possible. <span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">**Treatment**
 * ====<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Intervention ====
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px;">Address issues of anxiety, depression, guilt/shame, and post-traumatic stress; and teach appropriate coping skills
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 31px;">Cognitive Process Therapy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 31px;">post-traumatic stress disorder; depression
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">post-traumatic stress disorder--coping skills, adaptive cognition/behaviors
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Trauma-focused play therapy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Family Based therapy
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">develop and maintain support; help re-establish trust; help child feel safe


 * ====<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Prevention ====
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> 7 Steps (d2l.org)
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Learn the Facts
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Minimize Opportunity
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Talk About It
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Stay Alert
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Make a Plan
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Act on Suspicions
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Get Involved
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Educate parents on warning signs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Eliminate opporutnities for abuse
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Supervision
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Trusted adults
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Know the Warning Signs of an Abuser

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 300%;">Resources of Support







<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 200%;">**For More Information/References** www.pandys.org

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

Child Physical and Sexual Abuse: Guidelines for Treament. April 26, 2004 [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Widom, Cathy Spatz. (1992). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The cycle of violence. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Widom, Cathy Spatz. (1995). //Victims of childhood sexual abuse - Later criminal consequences.// Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Noziska, S.K. (2008) Sexual abuse literature and considerations for play therapists //. Mining Report. // October 2008.