Source:
Sexual Abuse Effects
Emotional and Physical Sexual Abuse Effects:
Molested children suffer many losses, including:
- self-esteem and self-worth
- trust
- childhood, including the opportunity to play and learn
- the opportunity for normal growth and development
- intimacy
- control over his/her body
- normal loving and nurturing
- safety and security
- Behavioural Sexual Abuse Effects:
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- nightmares, phobias, and regressive behaviours such as thumb-sucking and bed-wetting
- learning problems
- clinging and smothering
- insecurity, which put the child at risk for further abuse and exploitation
- psychosomatic complaints such as stomachaches and headaches
- precocious sexual activity--a young child knows more than they should about sexual activity; child may exhibit seductive behaviour
FACT: 17% of abused children exhibit age inappropriate sexual behaviour (Trocme & Wolfe, 2001, p.283).
FACT: Of the sexual abuse effects exhibited, sexualized behaviour is the most consistent indicator of sexual abuse (Cavanagh Johnson et. al., 1995, pp.50-514).
- with young children, a preoccupation with sexual organs of self, parents and others--often this shows itself in language and art
- aggression and bullying behaviours
FACT: 14% of abused children exhibit behaviour problems (Trocme & Wolfe, 2001, p.285).
- sudden changes in eating and/or sleeping habits
- depression and anxiety
FACT: 29% of abuse children exhibit depression or anxiety (Trocme & Wolfe, 2001, p.286).
- refusal to change clothes in front of others
- isolation
- obsessively good behaviour
- obsessed with cleanliness
- relationship problems
FACT: 13% of abused children exhibit negative peer involvement (Trocme & Wolfe, 2001, p.287).
- anti-social behaviour
- unwillingness to participate in social activities
- running away
FACT: 85% of runaways in Toronto have been sexually abused(Conference on Child Victimization & Child Offending, 20008).
- truancy / long absence from school
FACT: 10% of abused children have irregular school attendance (Trocme & Wolfe, 2001, p.289).
- long absence from participation in extracurricular activities
- dissociation--a child's existence is dependent on his/her ability to separate from the pain, which, in the most repulsive cases, may result in multiple personalities
- risky behaviours such as firestarting, stealing and other delinquencies
- animal cruelty
- alcohol and drug abuse
FACT: According to the Conference on Child Victimization & Child Offending (200010), sexual abuse effects on children with a history of molestation reflect that they are seven times more likely to become drug/alcohol dependent
FACT: In a sexual abuse effects study of 938 adolescents admitted to residential, therapeutic communities for the treatment of substance abuse and related disorders, 64% of the girls and 24% of the boys reported histories of sexual abuse (Hawke, Jainchill, & DeLeon, 2000, pp.35-4711).
- dysfunctional relationships
- avoiding confrontation
- self-harm, including cutting and burning
- paranoid behaviour
FACT: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the sexual abuse effects that plague sexually abused children and adult survivors of child abuse. Symptoms experienced are similar to those experienced by Vietnam veterans and may include sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression, which negatively impact on their daily psychosocial functioning and for which many seek professional help (Wiehe, 1998, p.5012).
- preoccupation with sex
- promiscuous behaviour
- compulsive and aggressive sexual behaviours
- self-destructive sexual behaviour and prostitution
FACT: 98% of female street youth in British Columbia reported being victims of physical or sexual abuse as compared to 32% of female youths in schools. 59% of male street youth reported being victims of physical or sexual abuse as compared to 15% of male youth in schools (Beauvais et al., 2001, p.6213).
- in adulthood, sexual dysfunction--avoidance of or phobic reactions to sexual intimacy
- becomes the abuser
FACT: Studies done by Haywood, Kravitz, Wasyliw, Goldberg and Cavanaugh in 1996 reflect some disturbing sexual abuse effects. The study found that the odds of becoming a child molester were 5.43 times greater for adult male victims of childhood sexual abuse than for adult male non-victims (Lee, Jackson, Pattison, & Ward, 2002, p.8814).
- attempted and completed suicide
FACT: Children with a history of sexual molestation are ten times more likely to attempt suicide (Conference on Child Victimization & Child Offending, 200015).
Sexual abuse effects on the child or youth are connected to the child/youth's life before, during and after the sexual contact. We must understand that the effects apply every bit as much to the disclosure and intervention as it does to the abuse itself. Sexual abuse effects continue long after the abuse stops.
Well said and this takes courage to say this.
