Already in 1976 The American Humane Association indicated that there were 1975 reported cases of sexual violence against a child in the United States.
Ten years later, the number of detected cases increased to 113 thousand, and in 1988 there were 330,000 thousand. reported cases. It was thought then that in fact more than 2 million children in the US are experiencing this form of violence. It is now believed that 30% of women and 20% of men have suffered sexual violence in childhood. In 1989, in the US, it was considered (probably too hastily) that every fourth girl and every fifth boy suffer sexual harassment.
As experts point out, only one in ten cases of this form of abuse are revealed.
This alarming number provides a very strong foundation to teach parents and professionals what is sexual violence, how to protect children from it and how to treat the psychological and somatic consequences of those affected.
Sexual violence is when an adult - father, stepfather, grandfather, uncle, teacher, priest, aunt, friend or friend of the family - uses children to satisfy their pleasures by being sexually active towards them.
Not all sexual violence is done by adults, sometimes older, stronger and more awake children can sexually abuse other children by forcing them to "play with sex".
The perpetrator controls the child in various ways to use it for his own purposes.
He becomes a trusted authority or a friend for him, he can give him presents, provide various pleasures, "satisfy" his need for warmth, intimidate, teach false morality. Harassment can have a lasting impact on a child's psychosexual development if the crisis is not quickly addressed.
Often the person committing this crime is known to the child, in many cases it is a family member.
In such cases, the mother may be indirectly involved, silently allowing such a crime or creating difficult situations for the child.
(J. Krzyzowski: Post-traumatic stress disorder in: Emergencies in psychiatry, Med., 2008.)
Doctor of Medicine Janusz Krzyżowski
PsychiatristPrivate office tel. 22 833 18 68
00-774Warszawa, Dolna 4 lok. 15
