Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a willful sexual act with, on, or in front of a child. But where exactly does sexual abuse begin, what forms and what are the consequences? Get an overview of the most important facts about sexual abuse here.
How is sexual abuse defined?
Basically, sexual abuse is any sexual act that takes place between a child and an adult. It is not necessarily just about sexual satisfaction, but also about the abuse of power. The elder is physically and mentally superior to the child. A child depends on the love and trust of the grown-ups. If the child is sexually abused, the adult uses violence to enforce his need for power and closeness. The acts of abuse range from obscene looks or addressing to sexual physical violence.
According to police crime statistics for 2009, around 14,000 cases are reported each year in Germany. However, experts assume that the number of unreported cases is around ten to fifteen times higher. It is usually reported if the offender does not come from the circle of acquaintances of the family. In most cases of sexual exploitation, the perpetrator is an acquaintance, a confidante of the child. The closer the perpetrator is to the child, the lower the chance that the crime will be discovered. Girls are affected in 75 percent of the cases reported. Kriminalrat Harald Schmidt confirmed this to us in our interview . The perpetrator is usually male and comes from the circle of friends of the family.
Where does sexual abuse start?
It is not entirely clear where sexual abuse begins. However, if an act takes place against the will of the child, his dignity is violated. This can be through looks, words or actions and then sexual abuse definitely takes place. The boundaries can sometimes be fluid. If an uncle tickles your daughter and accidentally rides up her skirt and touches her pubic area, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. But stay alert and watch your child to see if he is uncomfortable and stop the game.
How is sexual abuse manifested?
- Child pornography: Here children are forced to strip naked and expose themselves to lecherous looks, to be filmed or to look at pornographic pictures and have them made, up to and including physical abuse.
- Harassment: In chat rooms, children are sent obscene images and enticed to perform sexual acts on themselves.
- Touching: The perpetrator wants his private parts to be touched, the child to touch himself or to be touched.
- Satisfaction: Adults coerce children into hand or mouth satisfaction, or use outright violence and rape the young person.
- There are other sexual practices that correspond to the sexual preferences of the perpetrators and that children have to endure.
What are the consequences of sexual abuse?
In Section 176 of the Criminal Code , sexual abuse of children is punishable by imprisonment for between six months and ten years. But the abused child has to suffer the consequences for the rest of his life. The child’s dignity has been violated and the wounds heal slowly, if at all. The consequences also depend on the severity of the abuse. Behavioral problems, low self-esteem, anxiety disorders and depression are common in abused children. An abused child needs therapeutic treatment to come to terms with his or her experiences. Processing is all the more difficult the closer the perpetrator was to the victim.