Sexual Abuse

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Sexual Abuse

Section 1: Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is generally defined as an unwanted sexual activity where one person forces another through threats or victimizing the other without any form of consent (Pipe, 2011). In most cases, the victims and the perpetrators tend to be clearly informed about each other. Sexual abuse involves some immediate responses such as fear, disbelief and shock. However, it also involves long-term symptoms such as post trauma-stress disorder, fear, or anxiety. Sexual assaults occur when force is applied only for a short time or in an infrequent manner. The act of sexual abuse is always perpetrated by an adult towards a child with forceful sexual stimulation evidenced by the perpetrator (Pipe, 2011). Sexual abuse may also be performed by any person below the age of eighteen towards a less old individual such as a victimized child or teenager.

According to current research by Dinitia (2010), sexual abuse is rarely reported both in a country and worldwide. The underreporting of sexual abuse is believed to stem from the fear of being victimized within the criminal justice system due to unbelief of corrupt tendencies. Some people fear reporting sexual abuse because of self-blame and the failure of rape victims to equate their experiences with the legal definition of rape. For instance, some women fear that they would be blamed for the assault while others think that by reporting, their families are in danger of retaliatory violence. According to research, a good number of rape cases pass on across the country unreported. Additionally, stereotyping and erroneous assumption have been largely noted towards women as provoke rape through their dressing codes on the premise no man in his right is able to commit rape. Furthermore, the procedures taken in the process of reporting sexual abuse in court is complicated and degrading. For instance, women who report being raped are always viewed with suspicion and with a lot of difficulty; the police or the courts therefore enhance vulnerability to rape victims.

Sexual abuse comprises of child sexual abuse, which is executed on young ones by adults or peers that have control over their sexual activities. Rape can be performed by strangers or even a trusted caregiver of the child. Another widespread type of sexual abuse includes incest, which is perpetrated by a family member to a child within the same family. Others include molestation, stranger rape, sexual assault, gender attack, sexual harassments and sadistic sexual abuse, among others. Such actions have also been linked with cultic practices as forms of worship orgies. Sexual abuse is a criminal offense and its penalties differ between states based on the type, length and severity factors. The perpetrator may sometimes be ordered in rehabilitation centers before being released on parole (Aronson, 2010). Others may be required to register with both the state and federal sex offender centers. Furthermore, the victims are enabled to sue the offenders in civil court. In successful instances, the victim is compensated for any physical or emotional problems owing to the rape instance, inclusive of therapy and medical expenses.

Section 2: Summary of an Article on Sexual abuse

According to Stephenson’s Sexual Abuse in the Foster Care System, children sent to foster care units experience sexual abuse mainly through the caregivers. The author illustrates that child sexual abuse is a criminal offense but it increasingly goes without being reported. However, there has been an increased reporting rate of child sexual abuse although the disclosure of the case is always delayed until the child has grown into an adult. Research shows that very few cases of child sexual abuse are disclosed during the childhood phase. Unfortunately, the situation is quite pitiable as the abused child having been rescued by authorities from a dysfunctional household is sexually abused by care providers that are entrusted to act as a replacement family.

Children in the foster care systems are assumed be within a safe environment, and therefore breeding a perfect setting for sexually abuse. This causes enhanced psychological damages to the children, especially those that may have been rescued from sexual abuse at home only to be placed under the care of strangers who continue with the identified issue. Children who experience such double traumas portray negative behaviors hence, leading to highly disturbed forms of development. An illustration within the article offers the case of a sexual abuser being charged for violating three male youths in the foster care system. A lawyer by the name of Lee expresses disappointment on the foster care systems that have very many unaddressed issues and no urgencies or attempts to solve them. Lee acts as a representative of many individuals who were silently abused in foster care systems and presently trying to acquire compensation for the rape instances. Therefore, the article emphasizes the point that sexually abused children in the foster care system have been ignored by a majority of individuals who could have been able to help but owing to bureaucratic systems avoided the same to the detriment of the victims. Thus, much monitoring is required even in the foster care systems in averting the issue of rape (Stephenson 2010).

Section 3: Analysis of the article

According to Ferris and Stein (2009) structural-functionalism theory assumes that the society is a unified unit that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures. This ultimately means that the society will not function well when one of its structures stop functioning. In this case, the children in foster care and their caregivers form part of the system. When the caregivers do not function properly, for instance, when they abuse the children, the children will stop functioning as they are supposed to. This explains why children in foster care will often suffer depression and they later engage in substance abuse. The society cannot function as a whole because of this. According to the story provided by Stephenson’s article on child sexual abuse, Lee discloses that he was a victim of child sexual abuse in the foster care system that he spent his childhood. Most children in the foster care system lack succinct knowledge of handling such emotional health issues as well as the fear of perpetrator’s retaliation. In addition, they also engage in self-mutilation processes including repeated suicide attempts during their teenage years.

Sexual abuse and it is only with successful prosecutions that such young victims are able to realize a level of tranquility. Such actions allow the offender in acquiring heavy compensation, combining past and future therapies as well as further medical treatment. However, it is quite notable that no form of remuneration is able to restore a victim’s dignity. Lee had to seek for compensation by employing the class-action suit against the Alberta government. Generally, foster care systems are known or are trusted to provide the needed care for abused children, thus rank as the least expected institutions for child sexual abuse. Therefore, sexual abuse is an illegal practice and any foster care system found participating in such should be seriously interrogated and further justice executed on perpetrators of such acts.

Section 4: personal feelings thoughts and judgments on the topic

I think that sexual abuse, especially among children, is not only horrific, but it is also inhuman. No one has the right to rob children their innocence. The situation is made worse when the children in foster care do not receive any protection from the government. It is not fair for the children to continue suffering under the hands of the people who are supposed to be taking care of them. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated, that such cases continue to occur in such an advanced country. Stiffer penalties and measures should be taken to deal with the sexual perverts in the society. Perhaps this will serve to educate others, who might be thinking of doing the same thing.

According to the psychoanalytic theory on sexual abuse, it is believed that people who participate in sexual abuse are either mentally ill or chemically imbalanced. Such individuals suffer from incontrollable sexual impulses thus leading to rape (Barth, 2010). This theory also holds that rape acts as a form of a personal expression of unresolved problems that an individual may have encountered during the early childhood growth stages. Therefore, Stephenson’s article believes that the foster care service providers may have encountered some of these problems during their childhood leading to mental distress and thus the raping instances. Nevertheless, sexual abuse especially on children should not be overlooked because just like any form of torture it leads to physical harm, hatred and humiliation, and violation of an individual’s innermost mental integrity. Therefore, serious strategies should be employed and awareness created among individuals on required actions when one encounters any type of sexual abuse. Concerning foster care systems, the government should take extreme measures on any system and individuals participating in such dishonorable practices.

Therefore, it is very important that individuals erase or eliminate their fears and report any act of abuse committed within the community level since law enforcers are well able to offer various safeguards. The police and the court should also protect the victim when the abuse cases are reported. This will act as away of motivating affected victims into reporting such instances. The stigma attached to sexual abuse should not be tolerated. People tend to think that the victim “asked for it” in one way or another. It should be understood that despite the supposed actions of the victim, no person should ever be forced to have sexual relations with another for any reason whatsoever. Despite provocative dressing or any other signs that the perpetrator may think that were given, sex should be consensual and by adults of sound mind. Any act of sexual abuse is wrong, period.

Section 5: Conclusion

Sexual abuse is referred to as an unwanted sexual activity where the perpetrator forces the victim into the act through threats and the impartation of fear. Sexual abuse is performed across various demographic elements such as gender, age, and settings. It has both the immediate and long-term effects such as shock, disbelief and trauma. Various types of sexual abuse have been noted including incest, which is perpetrated by a family member to a child in the same family. Others cases may be performed by strangers but this do not lessen the trauma attached to the practice. People should not assume that foster care systems are immune settings from sexual abuses as noted by the cited research. Therefore, care should be accorded in all instances for the aversion of the same. Many cases of sexual abuse go unreported. Victims fear to report these cases because they fear that they will be victimized further. The process of reporting such cases can also be traumatizing to the victims, hence many of them choose not to report the cases.

References

Aronson, L. (2010). Sexual abuse in nine North American cultures: treatment and prevention.Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

Barth, V. (2010). From Child Abuse to Foster Care: Child Welfare Services Pathways and Placements.Boston, MA: Aldine Transaction.

Dinitia, S. (2010). Children of the night: New York’s foster care crisis.New York, NY: New York Press.

Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2009). The real world: An introduction to sociology. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company

Pipe, M. (2011). Child sexual abuse: disclosure, delay, and denial. New York, NY: Routledge.

Stephenson, K. (2010). Sexual abuse in the foster care system. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/sex-abuse-in-the-foster-care-system-.