168 preventing child sexual abuse
Some facts about child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse means using a child for some kind of sexual activity.
Sexual abuse can happen to any child. It happens in all communities, and
in rich and poor families. It happens to both girls and boys. Most sexual
abuse happens to children older than 5 years, but it happens to younger
children too.
We do not know exactly how common sexual abuse is, since many
children do not tell what happens to them. But it is possible that as many
as 1 out of every 4 children in the world is sexually abused.
There are many ways children can be abused. Some are:
Abuse when a child is touched
• oral sex (when a man puts his
penis in a child’s mouth)
• kissing or hugging a child in a
sexual way
• sexual intercourse or anal sex
(when a man puts his penis in a
child’s vagina or anus)
• touching a child’s genitals
(sexual parts) or making a
child touch an adult’s or an
older child’s genitals
• forcing a child to become a
prostitute (take money for
doing sex)
Abuse when a child is not touched
• using sexual talk or pictures
• making a child pose for sex
to shock a child, make her
pictures (pornography)
sexually excited, or make her
familiar with sex
• making a child look at
pornography
• making a child hear or watch sex
between other people
Most sexual abusers are men. And most abused children are
abused by someone they know, like a relative, a family friend, or
a neighbor. Abuse is rarely done by a stranger. Sometimes the
abuse goes on for a long time, even for years.
Not all people who abuse children sexually use physical
force. Sometimes a person uses a position of trust or
influence to make a child have sex. He might use
persuasion and ‘kindness’, threats and bullying, or
give gifts or treats. (An abuser may even be a deaf
person who befriends the child.) Whether someone
uses physical force, threats, or ‘kindness’ to make a
child have sex, the result of the abuse is still very
damaging to the child.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)