What is Child Sexual Abuse?
Sexual abuse occurs when a person forces a child to have any form of sexual contact or makes a child perform sexual acts. Sexual abuse may involve touching private parts (clothed or unclothed), penetration using an object or a body part, forced sexual acts between children, or making the child view, read or participate in pornography. These acts are abuse even when the offenders say they were gentle and did not hurt the child.
Sexual abuse is also known as molestation and exploitation. Sexual molestation does not always mean sexual intercourse. Sometimes older children molest young or smaller children. Sexual acts between children become molestation when one child uses coercion, force to get the child to do the acts or if there is a significant age or size between the children. Children acting out sexually should be reported to social service agencies so they can receive help.
Sexual molestation is overwhelming to children, especially when an adult is involved. Most children are taught to trust adults. They tend to believe what adults tell them is true rather then to rely on their feelings. This works against them in two ways. If the offender tells them that what is being done is OK, they may doubt their own feelings that it is not. If a parents' initial reaction when they hear the child' molestation report is "This can't be true", the child may wonder if his or her own feelings are mistaken. Children almost never tell about abuse to "create problems". More often, they fear that telling will make people angry at them. It is extremely difficult for children to report sexual abuse.