Pedophilia is a term we hear more and more, although the authorities are aware of the situation, we as members of society cannot ignore the consequences of sexual abuse on children, these crimes occur anywhere and cover all social classes without corresponding to a specific level of education, ethnicity or religion.
Child sexual abuse is not a new phenomenon, it cannot be determined since it began to occur in history, but it is likely to exist from the origin of humanity.
- “In what is not strange.
- Find the strange.
- In the ordinary.
- He finds the inexplicable.
- Normally.
- You must be surprised.
- What’s the rule.
- Recognize it as abuse.
- And where you recognize abuse.
- Seek to remedy it.
- “That.
- ? -Bertolt Brecht-.
All cultures have ancestral myths and legends that seek to abolish incest, i. e. sexual relations between blood relatives. In the case of father-daughter relationships, some societies seem to have been a little more permissive.
It is known that the highest percentage of child sexual abuse occurs with the parent or stepfather and that their main victims are girls or daughters-in-law.
However, there are also many cases where the rapist is another close relative, an estimated 80 to 95% of child sexual abuse occurs within the family, children are also victims, albeit to a lesser extent.
One of Sigmund Freud’s most important and controversial discoveries was evidence that humans have had sexual impulses since birth. Psychoanalysis states that children have fantasies, desires and sexual expressions.
But the sexuality of children is very different from the sexuality of adults, which is quite obvious due to the physical, emotional and intellectual immaturity of children.
A child, deep down, discovers his own body and the first sensations of pleasure with certain stimuli, however, there is another important aspect that the child must discover: the rules of kinship.
The first major prohibition that must be made for a child to achieve development is that he or she does not have sex with his or her father or mother and, by extension, with other members of his/her family.
By respecting this prohibition, the child can accept law and culture, learn to accept impossible desires, and acquire a principle of reality that will allow him or her to have the skills to recognize and respect the limits of what is permitted.
If the ban fails, the child will begin to see the world as chaos, in which it is very difficult to make sense of it. You’ll also feel guilty and ashamed, even if you don’t know exactly why.
It is important to note that child sexual abuse occurs during consensual or non-consensual sexual contact between an adult and a minor, or when this contact occurs between two children, if there is a three-year difference between them.
The consequences of child sexual abuse vary from case to case and depend on many factors:
In almost all cases, the presence of short- and long-term consequences was detected.
In the short term, the consequence of sexual abuse is more likely to be a regression at a younger age: the child may suck his or her fingers again or lose control of the sphincters, for example.
It is also common for the child to become anxious and depressed. Very often, your academic performance decreases and can be isolated and antisocial. Similarly, you may become attractive, sexually early, or develop suicidal addictions and behaviors.
The long-term consequences of child sexual abuse depend on the severity of the abuse and therapeutic support the child or adult has received.
Frequent sleep difficulties or nightmares are most likely, as well as a tendency to depression and low self-esteem.
Child sexual abuse occurs during sexual contact, whether consensual or not, between an adult and a minor.
The greatest difficulties will be reflected in the sex and love life. Abused people may experience sexual phobias or an incomprehensible tendency to establish very unsatisfactory romantic relationships.
In the most severe cases, the consequences of sexual abuse include a strong willingness to develop schizophrenia, commit suicide attempts, or develop very dangerous promiscuous behaviors.
Anyone who has been sexually abused as a child should inevitably be treated by a psychologist or psychoanalyst to reduce the consequences of this fact, the sooner the better.
Image courtesy of Beatriz Vidal, Kelly Vivanco.