Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
This is me at about 5 years of age.
This is the face of child sexual abuse.
© Denise Bossarte
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of child abuse with interactions between a child and another person where the child is being used for sexual stimulation of the other person.
The other person can be:
- an adult
- an older adolescent
- a person significantly older than the child
- or someone in a position of power or control over the child
CSA includes the following behaviors:
- engaging indecent exposure to a child with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to intimidate or groom the child
- asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities
- displaying pornography to a child
- or using a child to produce child pornography. (ref 1)
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All sexual touching between an adult and a child is sexual abuse. Sexual touching between children can also be sexual abuse when there is a significant age difference (often defined as 3 or more years) between the children or if the children are very different developmentally or size-wise.
Sexual abuse does not have to involve penetration, force, pain, or even touching. If an adult engages in any sexual behavior (looking, showing, or touching) with a child to meet the adult’s interest or sexual needs, it is sexual abuse. (ref 2)
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The Sexual Abuse Statistics Are Staggering
- 1 in 5 children is sexually abused before they turn 18 (ref 3)
- Every 9 minutes, child protective services substantiates, or finds evidence for, a claim of child sexual abuse. (ref 4)
- More than 1 in 3 women and nearly 1 in 4 men have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact at some point in their lives. (ref 5)
- The effects of child sexual abuse can be long-lasting, having a negative impact on children’s educational attainment as well as later job performance and earnings. (ref 6)
- Victims are more likely than nonvictims to experience mental health challenges: (ref 4)
- 80 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone the survivor knows, such as a neighbor, family member, or romantic partner (ref 7)
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Signs a Child or Teen May Have Been Sexually Abused
(ref 7 & 8)
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Genital injuries including bruising or bleeding
- Inappropriate sexual behavior or sexual knowledge
- Forcing sexual acts on other children
- Sexual components to drawings and games
- Unusual interest in or avoidance of all things sexual or physical
- Difficulty relating to others except in sexual or seductive ways
- Regressing to past habits such as bed-wetting or thumb-sucking
- New fear of removing clothing to change or bathe
- New fear of being alone at night or having nightmares; sleep problems, nightmares, fears of going to bed
- New discomfort or anxiety around certain adults
- Mistrust of adults
- Excessive worry or fear
- Extreme fear of being touched
- Extreme agitation or angry outbursts
- Secretiveness or unusual aggressiveness
- Neurotic reactions (obsessions, compulsiveness, phobias)
- Withdrawal from family and friends
- Suicidality
- Frequent accidents or self-injurious behaviors
- Habit disorders (biting, rocking)
- Refusal to go to school, or to the doctor, or home
- Unwillingness to submit to physical examination
- Prostitution
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Read about “What are the Impacts of Sexual Abuse?” in the next blog post!
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Learn about what inspired me to create the Thriving After blog in my first post!
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(1) Sexual abuse. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_abuse
(2) Defining Child Sexual Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/defining-child-sexual-abuse
(3) About the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study | Child Abuse & Neglect | CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/about.html
(4) Children and Teens: Statistics. Rainin.org. Retrieved from https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens
(5) National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Data Brief | Violence Prevention | CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/2015NISVSdatabrief.html
(6) Where We Stand: Cost, Consequences, and Solutions | National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Retrieved from https://www.endsexualviolence.org/where_we_stand/costs-consequences-and-solutions/
(7) Sexual Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/sexual-abuse
(8) Trauma: Childhood Sexual Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/somatic-psychology/201303/trauma-childhood-sexual-abuse
