Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse

Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse:

  1. Usually, the sexual abuse begins when a child is very young and lasts several years before disclosure or discovery.
  2. The perpetrator often grooms his victim over a period of time, showing the child special favor and building a relationship with her or him. In addition to the actual sexual violation, this misuse of trust is one of the most psychologically damaging effects on the victim
  3. The typical offender is a male (although females can and do engage in child sexual abuse)
  4. The offender uses his or her position of power to take advantage of the child’s trust, need for affection and innocence
  5. Children rarely lie about sexual abuse incidents
  6. Children often keep the incidents a secret for a long time
  7. Child sexual abuse occurs in all societies, in all socioeconomic groups and in all racial groups


Child Sexually Abusive Behaviors

So that you can gain a better understanding of the continuum of child sexual abuse, the range of abusive behaviors are listed below.

Non-touching sexual offenses include:

Touching sexual offenses include:

Sexual exploitation includes:

Sexual abuse refers to:

Indicators of Sexual Abuse

Physical indicators of sexual abuse in children are:

Physical indicators of sexual abuse in teenagers are all of the behaviors listed for children plus:

Behavioral indicators of sexual abuse in children include certain sexualized behaviors such as:

Inappropriate dress:

Behavioral indicators of sexual abuse in children include certain social and emotional behaviors such as:

Behavioral indicators of sexual abuse in children include other symptoms such as:

Behavioral indicators of sexual abuse in teenagers include:

Family indicators of sexual abuse are:

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