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Effects of sexual abuse on children
Wakefield and Underwager (1991) note the difference between CSA experiences of males and females, where more males than females report the experience as neutral or positive, saying that "It may be that women perceive such experiences as sexual violation, while men perceive them as sexual initiation." Rind et al.(1998) showed that this difference was present in 59 college studies on the issue, showing that males who claimed that their abuse was consensual were not significantly less well adjusted than the norm. Draucker (1992) had previously argued that sexual abuse against both boys and girls had similar effects, and that "initiation" was part of the myth that males are always the initiators of sex and cannot be abused. Crawford (1997) asserts that our socially repressed view of female and maternal sexuality conceals both the reality of female sexual pathologies and the damage done by female sexual abuse to children. Denov (2004) notes that the topic of female sex offending is one that is barely "beginning" to be studied and is a phenomenon that causes surprise, shock and utter revulsion even among counseling professionals. More recent studies indicate that sexual or physical abuse in children can lead to the overexcitation of an undeveloped limbic system [2]. This could explain the problems sexual abuse victims have with regulation of mood and other limbic functions, especially as exhibited in borderline personality disorder. Other studies also indicate that the psychological trauma caused by sexual abuse can lead to temporal lobe epilepsy, damage to the cerebellar vermis, along with reduced size of the corpus callosum. Children who had suffered only sexual abuse showed somewhat greater damage than children who had suffered only non-sexual physical abuse. However, the most dramatic effects were seen in those who had suffered both sexual and physical abuse. Male and female victims were similarly affected. [3] OffendersOffenders are more likely to be relatives or acquaintances of their victim than strangers.[2] Most reported offenders are male; the percentage of incidents of sexual abuse by female perpetrators is usually reported to be between 1% and 6%[3], though this low figure may be distorted by under-reporting of sexual contact between women and minors.[4] This under-reporting has been attributed to cultural denial of female-perpetrated child sex abuse.[5] Most men formerly involved in woman-boy sexual relations evaluate their experience as positive upon reflection.[6] TypologyTypologies for child sex offenders have been used since the 1970s. Male Offenders are typically classified by their motivation, which is usually assessed by reviewing their offense's characteristics. Phallometric tests may also be used to determine the abuser's level of pedophilic interest.[7] Groth et al. proposed a simple, dichotomous system in 1982 which classed offenders as either "regressed" or "fixated."[8]. Research on female child sex abuse perpetrators is beginning to be done despite widespread denial about the very existence of female child sex offending..[9]
Regressed offendersRegressed offenders are primarily attracted to their own age group but are passively aroused by minors (pseudo-pedophiles and pseudo-ephebophiles).
Other scenarios may include:
Some view regressed offenders as people who are unable to maintain adult sexual relationships and so the offender substitutes an adult with a minor. This appears to be a flawed concept since it would suggest the offender was primarily pedosexual/ephebosexual and they would thus fit into the fixated category. Fixated offendersFixated offenders are most often adult pedophiles who are maladaptive to accepted social norms. They develop compatibility and self-esteem issues, stunting their social growth.[citation needed] "This offender identifies with children, in other words considers him or herself to be like a child and thus seeks sexual relationships with what the offender perceives to be other children".[4] Such offenders often resort to collecting personal articles related to minors (clothing, children's books) as an outlet for their repressed desires. The sexual acts are typically preconceived and are not alcohol or drug related. "Children who molest"Some therapists noticed that many adult sex offenders already showed what they considered deviant sexual behavior during childhood. So they promoted early treatment of deviant minors as a preventive measure. However there is still little known about normal as opposed to deviant child sexuality. It is also unknown whether so called deviant minors have a higher risk of becoming adult sex offenders than anybody else. The US started to focus on juvenile sex offenders or even children for therapy or detention in the early 1990s. The label "juvenile sex offender" is controversial because it is not only used to describe acts of violence, but also consensual acts that violate statutory rape laws; critics of this trend view many such children as simply engaging in sexual experimentation. They also criticize the law for forcing arbitrary classification of such pairs of offenders into victim and perpetrator. Therapies used on children have included controversial methods historically used in the "treatment" of homosexuals such as aversion therapy, where minors are, for example, forced to smell ammonia while looking at nude pictures or to listen to audio tapes describing sexual situations. In order to measure sexual response, devices like penile plethysmographs and vaginal photoplethysmographs are sometimes used on these minors. Variation in cultural practices, norms and research findingsBetween cultural relativists and cultural universalists there is no consensus whether and which among different past or present cultural practices in Western or non-Western societies can be defined as abusing either general universalistic human rights or special universalistic rights of minors. As a result, there is no generally accepted definition which of them can be listed as child sexual abuse. In different cultures the practices sanctioned by cultural norms involve for example cutting and bleeding of the genitals, female genital cutting, circumcision (of males), castration, infibulation, sexual relationships between adolescent boys and adult men sanctioned by the state and sanctified by religion in ancient Greece. In Japan, sexual relationship between adolescent boys and adult monks in feudal Japan were tolerated, if not encouraged. Again child prostitution is somewhat tolerated in abjectively poor societies as a way for children to support their families. Remedies against masturbation (once named 'self-abuse'), ritual fellation by youths (found in some Oceanic cultures [5] [6] [7]), etc. Green (2002) notes that sexual interactions between adults and children were commonplace and accepted in a variety of archaic cultures, including that of the Siwans, Arrernte aborigines, Native Hawaiians, and Polynesians.[10] EpidemiologyGoldman (2000) notes that "the absolute number of children being sexually abused each year has been almost impossible to ascertain" and that "there does not seem to be agreement on the rate of children being sexually abused". A meta-analytic study by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998) found that reported prevalence of abuse for males ranged from 3% to 37%, and for females from 8% to 71% with mean rates of 17% and 28% respectively. Significant underreporting of sexual abuse of boys by both women and men is believed to occur due gender steoreotyping, social denial and minimization of male victimization, and the relative lack of research on sexual abuse of boys.[8] Sexual victimization of boys by their mothers or other female relatives is especially rarely researched or reported.[9] Sexual abuse of girls by their mothers, and other related and/or unrelated adult females is beginning to be researched and reported despite the highly taboo nature of female-female child sex abuse.[10] A study by Fromuth and Burkhart (1987) found that depending upon the definition of CSA used, prevalence among men varied from 4% to 24%. Legal definition (U.S.)In every state and federal jurisdiction of the United States, the law states that a minor below the age of consent in that state or jurisdiction cannot consent to sexual activity of any sort involving a partner (with certain exceptions). Such sexual activity is legally considered child abuse. However, state laws treat an adult who performs sexual activity with a minor under the age of consent differently from two minors under the age of consent who perform sexual activity with each other. Also, if the minor in question is a preadolescent child then it is generally treated differently then sexual activities with an adolescent under the age of consent. Sexual activities between an adult and an adolescent minor under the age of consent are generally covered under statutory rape laws. Illegal sexual activities involving an adult and a minor are generally categorized as a sex offense. Depending on the penal code of the jurisdiction in which the crime occurs, the specific charges against the adult may include, for example, rape/sexual assault, sexual abuse of a child, incest, or lewd acts. Incest or child sexual abuse by parents (or other related adult relatives) to related children is a crime in all states. However, a decided legal double standard exists in most states that favors parents who rape or molest their own children as opposed to unrelated adults to who rape or molest others' children.[11]
These protections are not consistently available in all states. Young people are often punished for being sexual with themselves and consenting partners of the same age. Teens have been fined, imprisoned, and labeled as sexual offenders for crimes such as taking pictures of themselves[12][13] and engaging in consensual activity with others. Sometimes a couple under the age of consent are charged as each being both victims and rapists of each other at the same time. [14] Penalties (U.S.)Penalties for child sexual abuse crimes vary from state to state. The specific crimes for which the child sex offender has been convicted determine the sentence the offender will serve. Examples of criminal penalties include imprisonment, as well as post-release conditions, such as parole supervision and registration as a sex offender. The trend has been towards progressively longer prison sentences, especially for long-term or repeat offenders. The victim can also sue the offender in civil court for the injuries the victim suffered. A civil lawsuit can result in additional penalties for the offender, such as the payment of monetary damages to the victim. Offenders may be subject to penalties outside the court system. The 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (H.R.4472) authorizes the indefinite involuntary commitment of "sexually dangerous persons" whom the State determines are "dangerous to others because of a mental illness, abnormality, or disorder that creates a risk that the individual will engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation." A "sexually dangerous person" is defined as a "a person who has engaged or attempted to engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation and who is sexually dangerous to others."[11] Prohibited activitiesThe activities identified as sexual abuses of a children vary between countries. In the United States, sexual activity of any kind is prohibited between an adult and a person under the age of consent.[citation needed] Examples of prohibited activities:
Offences in the UKSexual offences involving children in the United Kingdom is prosecuted under a number different types of offence defined by a succession of Acts of Parliament. Examples in England and Wales include:
Examples for Scotland include:
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