Child abuse

Imagine for one moment that you are not yourself any longer. Visualize instead that you are a young girl; old enough to know right from wrong, yet still young enough to be terrified by the dark shadows in your room. It is a cool autumn night, and your parent's have decided to attend a party which you were not invited to ' adults only. 'It will be fine,' they say, but deep in your mind you already know what is to come. Your uncle has come over to watch you for the evening, and your parents are so pleased by the fact that they do not have to find a sitter. As soon as he arrives, your mother kisses your cheek and scurries out the door to join your father already waiting in the car outside. You just want to scream, and beg your mother not to leave you. The nightmare begins. His slimy hands casually slide a video into the VCR as he smiles at you seductively. You can feel his eyes worming their gaze through your clothes every time he looks at you. You feel dirty and violated every time you think about what he does to you when you are alone. He walks over the couch and sits down next to you. You just want to cry, but are scared to move an inch, afraid of how he might react. His hand slithers its way onto your knee and you cringe in revulsion. 'Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you,' he chides. Your mind feels panicky as you feel his touch in more intimate places and you scream involuntarily. His grip tightens as he places his hand over your mouth. 'We'll have to do this the hard way!' comes his intense whisper. You flail your arms at him, but it doesn't help. His writhing massive body is on top of yours, and you feel so powerless. Eventually, you sink into a sobbing heap and simply wait for his passions to stop. You wait for the nightmare to end. When he is done, you limp to the laundry room and try fruitlessly to get the bloodstains out of your clothes.

What you have just experienced is one type of abuse that occurs millions of times every year across America ' child sexual abuse. According to the Merriam ' Webster's dictionary, abuse is defined as 'a corrupt practice or custom, or physical maltreatment.' It is the wrong or incorrect use and treatment of someone or something, which causes harm, either physically, and/or mentally. Abuse can take place in three different forms: physical, sexual, and mental. In our society today, the act of abuse is a common factor in everyday life. Estimates of abuse range wildly depending on the source of one's information. The statistics on rates of child abuse and neglect are controversial. More often than not, the incidence goes unreported in all industrialized and developing countries. The most widely accepted estimate of sexual abuse is that one in four girls and one in eight boys will be abused before age 18.

There is no clear answer to the question 'what exactly is child abuse?' Seeking a proper acceptable definition of the word has been the center of controversies since the beginning of scientific research on this sensitive topic. Child abuse is physical, verbal, or sexual abuse that is done to a child. There are many differing points of view that must be taken into account in order to try to create a single, simple definition of child abuse. There is the point of view of the parent's or adults in the general community. There is the point of view of the courts, who must decide both whether and how to punish someone for their acts upon a child, and last, but most importantly there is the point of view of the child, the victim of the abuse.

A common definition that is given for child sexual abuse is similar to the following: 'child sexual abuse is any action perpetrated upon or nearby a child that is sexual in nature and disturbing to the child.' Parents may find this definition too easily applied to parental affection. It would be very easy for a stranger seeing a mother or father kissing their child to believe it was an act of sexual abuse, according the definition above. It's not likely, nor desirable that parent's will stop showing affection to their children. If that were to occur, then we would be introducing another way of hurting children, depriving them of affection they need to grow and develop into healthy adults. However, in today's day and age, many parents have a fear that well-meaning strangers may misunderstand their actions. Unfortunately, there are the instances when this does occasionally happen.

The courts have an empirically verifiable definition for child sexual abuse in order for them to be able to convict someone accused ' put simply, they need a definition that can be proven with hard, physical evidence. This makes a problem for all the children abused in ways that do not leave a mark.

In my research, I came across this definition by author Jean Renvoize, who attempts to take all three points of view into consideration. Her definition is as follows: Child sexual abuse is any type of sexual exploitation of a child or adolescent by any older person or adult for the stimulation and/or gratification of that person, which is not necessarily confined to physical contact and which may range from exhibitionism or involvement with pornography to full intercourse or child prostitution; where the developmentally immature victim lacks the authority or power to prevent her/himself being coerced into activities to which she/he is unable to give informed consent, which she/he does not properly comprehend but which ' either at the time or later ' the victim considers sexually abusive.

There are many categories of sexual abuse, which include incest, pedophilia, exhibitionism, molestation, sex (statutory rape), sexual sadism, and child pornography. It is estimated that approximately three hundred thousand children are involved in child prostitution and pornography. Many times men or woman who abuse children were abused when they were young. In this way, abuse is very much a self-fulfilling prophesy, or circle problem. Historically, sexual abuse was not as much of a problem as it is in modern times. Incidences of sexual abuse are highest in urbanized, technologically advanced societies. We hold this to be self-evident because the basic need of sexual drive is denied a constructive outlet in modern society. In other cultures and times, prostitution was a valid form of employment, and this niche provided an integral outlet for connoisseurs of sex (ex. Nymphomaniacs.) Without this vent, men with sexual frustration may turn to the less reactive child as sexual prey. Due to the black market prostitution of children, a twelve-year-old boy can earn upwards of a thousand dollars per day selling himself on the streets of Los Angeles.

Mental abuse of a child can involve several different activities. Such forms of mental abuse include yelling, neglect, constant insults, and mental torture. Neglect is the most prevalent form of mental abuse. Neglect is the unlawful withholding of child's basic needs. Food, water, shelter, and clothing; these are all things that a child needs to live an effective life in today's society. To deny a child these things is to leave him lower on the ladder of needs than he or she would conceivably be otherwise.

Mental abuse is also another damaging forms of abuse, and like rape and other forms of sexual or physical abuse, mental abuse will be with you all of your life. If someone is always insulting you, always telling you are no good; then with time, your mind becomes accustomed to it, and you begin to believe it. This is especially a damaging consequence for young children and infants, who are dependent upon mental support as they are for their physiological needs. Mental abuse not only affects the child, and the family, but society as a whole.

Physical abuse is abuse to a person's body, and has many forms. It may involve hitting or kicking of a child with the fists or the feet, or with another object; such as belts, bats, ropes, leather straps, broom handles, etc. Other forms of abuse include the pouring of scalding water or coffee on a child's body, holding a child's head under the water of a toilet bowl/bathtub, throwing a child against a wall, shaking a child with an extreme force, or placing parts of a child's anatomy on hot or burning surfaces to cause pain. Some experts say that for every reported case of physical abuse over 100 cases are not even reported. Nobody knows precisely how many children die each year from physical abuse at the hands of adults.

One sad case that I came across in my research was the case of Terrell Peterson. 'Terrell died January 15, 1998'he was beaten and near starved to death'his grandmother, aunt, and aunt's boyfriend are due to go on trial this year on murder charges in what is being called one of the most horrific cases of child abuse ever seen in Fulton County.' The state of Georgia's child protective services is under investigation for the death of this child.

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Child abuse

Child abuse

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