What You Need To Know
Child sex abuse occurs when a child is exploited sexually by another person. It may take the form of: exposure of sexual parts of the body, obscene phone calls, voyeurism, use of pornography, fondling, and oral, vaginal, or anal intercourse.
Children are most commonly sexually abused by someone they know and trust. There may be a single occurrence, but most likely the abuse will continue over a period of time, often for years. The abuse generally begins with acts such as fondling. The child is coerced and manipulated into remaining silent. Victims are terrified of revealing the abuse, due to confusion, guilt and fear of being blamed, punished or not believed.
If you know or suspect a child is being or has been sexually abused, call your local child protective services or the 24-hour National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453. Source: National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse
The impact of sex abuse is long term and deep. Research indicates that women who have experienced sex abuse have significantly poorer overall health, greater physical and emotional disability, more distressing physical symptoms, and increased health risk behaviors. 1999 AM J. Med 107:4:332-9
Be The Scream
What You Need To Know
What Helps
Spread Awareness
