Sexual Abuse And Incest Essay Research Paper

Sexual Abuse And Incest Essay, Research Paper

Sexual abuse has been defined as sexual exploitation or sexual activities of children. It is not simply a clinical problem or a legal problem, but a social problem, which affects thousands of Canadian children every year. In fact, one in four girls and one in seven boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. (looksmart.com) One form of sexual abuse includes incest, which is any sexual activity between blood relatives. (yahoo.com) This can range from a child s parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and step-relatives. (Miller & Kelly page 1)

Perpetrators come in many different types and personalities and are most often someone the child knows and trusts. Usually the perpetrator has easy access to the child because he/she has sole responsibility for the child, or takes care of or visits the child, and is trusted by the child s parents. (McGuire & Grant, page 5) Only 28% of child molesters are actually strangers. (msn.com) Many sexual offenders seek an ongoing relationship with a child. The use of physical force is rarely necessary to engage a child into sexual activity because children are trusting and dependent. They want to please others and gain love and approval. Children are taught not to question authority and they believe that adults are always right. Perpetrators of child abuse know this, which is why it s so easy for them to take advantage of them. (McGuire & Grant, Page 5; yahoo.com)

Incest between an adult and a related child or adolescent is now recognized as the most prevalent form of child sexual abuse and has the greatest potential for damage to the child. Some examples of physical indicators of sexual abuse are, difficulty walking or sitting, stained or bloody underwear, bleeding, bruising and itching around the genitals. (msn.com)

They re many different personalities that are associated with incestuous behaviours. The first personality is the Dependent Parent. The dependent father usually feels sorry for him-self and cannot do things for himself so he depends on everyone else in the household to take care of him. He has problems dealing with stress and does not have many friends. The next is the Tyrant. The tyrannical father wants total control over everything and everyone in the household. The tyrant also abuses his wife, which has stopped her from interfering in his life. The Sociopath is someone who has trouble functioning in society; he views the outside world as a hostile enemy. This type of person is often brutal and violent, and may have engaged in criminal behaviour. The pedophile is someone who is sexually attracted to young people. Pedophiles generally begin abusing their children at young ages and do not always limit their activities to their own children. They do not need emotional trauma or excessive stress to trigger incestuous behaviour.

(Miller and Kelly, pages 25-32)

Some families are at greater risk of having a sexual offender with in the household. Families such as, stepfamilies, one-parent families, large families, substance abusers, rigid families and passive dependent mothers have more potential for sexual abuse to increase. In families separated by divorce, sexual assaults by the father often occur during visitation times. This does not mean that it happens in all families, but in some families it may just be a vulnerable time. In large families, not everyone gets along well, which could cause the household members to be more prone to physical violence and has more of a possibility for sexual abuse. In passive or rigid families, where the roles of both sexes are not equal, the family can become very emotional at times and could sometimes lead to one of the parents to incestuous behaviour. (Miller and Kelly, pages 42-45) In one case, involving a stepfather, an eighteen year-old girl testified that the abuse began when she was eleven years old in 1994, when her stepfather started to remove her top. Only this year did the stepfather get two years for sexual assault. (Jake Rupert, 2001)

Although all types of sexual abuse have an impact upon the child, it is believed that incest between a parent and a child is the most traumatic. (msn.com) There are several for reasons for that. Children depend on their parents for physical and economic support as well as psychological and emotional support. Mothers and fathers, as responsible parents, provide a home, food, medical care, clothing, and everything else needed for physical survivor. The abusive parent is violating the child s trust and abusing the power of his or her position in the household and taking away the right the son or daughter has for a normal childhood. (looksmart.com)

Incest between father and daughter is defined as sexual activity between a biological father, adoptive father, stepfather, or a surrogate father and a female child in his care. Girls who have been molested by their fathers frequently display one of two types behaviour. Either they become frightened of men or become promiscuous and have many sexual partners. The incest often begins with the father exposing his genitals and then slowly convinces the daughter to touch them, then tries to convince her that everything will be okay. Normally a father who engages in incestuous behaviour with his daughter has trouble dealing with adult relationships. In an adult/child relationship, the fath