The findings present a different picture of the sex-related industry than previous years, in which customers could be found at traditional establishments like nightclubs or bars. While avenues for finding prostitution customers such as strip clubs have seen a drop of about half, use of social media sites for business continues to climb.

Facebook was the most frequently used social media outlet for prostitution workers in New York, the subject of the study that included participation from nearly 300 women involved in the sex industry. Participants said Facebook was used by more than 80 percent to help locate new business, a much higher figure than the 61 percent who posted ads for their services on Craigslist.

Social media and online networking tools have continued to quickly gain momentum as resources for finding customers in the sex industry. Researchers noted that even three years ago, in 2008, one-fourth of study participants’ regular customers were gained from Facebook usage.

The rise in usage toward Facebook as a recruitment center for the sex industry could represent the nonspecific guidelines issued by the site toward its use. Facebook administrators have not formally restricted the use of the site for locating sexual partners, although the site does prohibit illegal activity. Prostitution, however, is not illegal in every state, providing what some call a loophole for Facebook to be utilized to boost the sex industry.

Furthermore, Facebook retains a popular, widespread use for non-sexual connections, giving it a more secure feeling to users than other social media sites. In terms of the sex industry as a business, the study, conducted by Columbia sociology instructors and printed in Wired magazine, also said that people who work in the sex industry used BlackBerry smartphones more often than other types of phones, which they suspect adds to the experience of hiring "professional" sex industry personnel.

Craigslist, in comparison, removed its category for "adult" offerings such as prostitution one year ago. The site has seen declining rates of usage by sex industry workers, while Facebook use continues to grow. Traditional "escort" services have also seen a decline in use, a drop of around 10 percent, and researchers believe more prostitution workers are looking for more removed ways of finding customers and arranging deals. This theory emerges at the same time as other recent research suggesting that many people transition online-based relationships into real-world encounters, and that those who use sex-based communications like sexting or sex chat sites are more likely to cheat on a spouse in a real-life setting.

Researchers also suspect customers and workers may prefer the ability to create false identities with social media tools as they seek anonymity in their relationships.

Sextortion is a relatively recent but rising form of cybersex crime, in which someone threatens to post naked or illicit photos of someone else online unless they comply with their demands. Typically, sextortion victims are females who are teens and too ashamed or fearful to tell a parent or adult what is happening. Victims of sextortion can also be young children, who are vulnerable enough to cooperate with demands for sexually explicit photos or pornographic videos from a home Web cam.

Courage, say detectives, is a key ingredient in helping stop the crime. The victim must come forward, say Ohio detectives and members of the Attorney General’s department, in order to begin stopping the criminal. Ohio officials are working together in a combined effort called the Regional Electronic Computer Intelligence Task Force, aimed at stopping sextortion.

As the Ohio Attorney General’s Office says, many victims start out in seemingly benign conversations online or in chat rooms. Some, including a teen girl whose story appears in the Kansas City Star article, were lured in with promises that her online "friend" would get her into modeling. When she complied with her sextortionist’s request to pose in illicit pictures and post them online, the requests became more sexual – and she declined. That’s where sextortion escalates, because the blackmailer threatens the victim into performing more acts under fear that he or she will post nude photographs online for all their friends and family to see.

In Ohio, many cases have involved sextortion with someone the victim is already acquainted with, or in a relationship with – such as a boyfriend who is angered at the end of the relationship. Officials urge parents to help children and teens understand what this crime means, and to help them feel secure in coming forward immediately if they are in danger of sextortion crimes.

Known popularly as "sexting," the act of sending sexual pictures with cell phones is becoming a new problem for teenagers across the country – but it’s also a problem for people who leave a relationship and a partner seeks revenge by sending out nude photos of the person for multiple sets of eyes. The same practice is happening on social media networks, with young teens being sent sexual messages by online predators and people using threats to post naked pictures of people as blackmail.

As Malloy addressed a crowd recently during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, she asked people to remember that sexting and similar acts are not to be taken lightly and result in sexual assault victims.

For teens, the problems associated with cyber sexual assaults can escalate quickly with "smut lists," Malloy also warned, which means a person’s name is given out over Internet sources as someone who is "easy" or promiscuous. Some teens have been so shaken up over this type of sexual harassment that they become severely depressed. Girls whose names have appeared on "smut lists" should be watched by family members and friends, says Malloy, because they could have a very traumatic and unexpected response to the act. Across the country, three suicides have been linked to smut lists.

Malloy called for more awareness and more recognition of sexting, smut lists and other forms of cybersex-related crimes as true acts of sexual violence or harassment, in order to prevent the tragic damage these acts can bring to girls and women.

Kids have also become bolder behind the computer screen. There is a false sense that they are not in danger and that talking to strangers online is just harmless fun. Most youngsters think that nothing bad can ever happen to them. However, sex predators don’t come online and have ‘sex predator’ written across their forehead. They will begin a simple conversation in a chatroom or start playing a video game so that they can gain the trust of the child, making it easier to sexually exploit them later.

In fact, the North American Man/Boy Love Association, otherwise known as NAMBLA, used this ideology in its literature. The organization directed its members where to locate underage boys and instructed them how to gain their trust. Bethesda, Ohio Police Chief, Tim Zdanski says that they have had cases where predators have engaged in online gaming with children for a period of two years before petitioning them for sex.

Zdanski says that parents aren’t always aware that their children are talking to strangers via chatroom, messaging, e-mailing, or online gaming. He points out that many of these interactions require no parental consent, so they make easy targets for attracting child prey. Facebook is also being used for this purpose. Not long ago, FoxNew.com reported that NAMBLA was using Facebook as a means to befriend children and gain their trust.

Dateline reporter Chris Hanson teamed up with the activist group, Perverted Justice, to see just how prevalent sex predators were on the Internet. In the show, "To Catch a Predator," profiles of underage decoys were created, and the responses started pouring in. All conversations between each decoy and predator were recorded and transcribed. The decoy would then solicit a meeting with the predator where he would instead be confronted by Hanson, who would question him about the transcribed conversation.

The show ran for three years before its last episode in December 2007. Hansen says in that time he interviewed 200 prospective sex predators, most of which were arrested. The show was taken off the air in part because of its popularity and the fact that fewer predators were showing up to meet the decoys as a result.

The show helped raise awareness that sex predators are only a click away. Parents should stay in constant communication with their children and be aware of all time spent on the Internet. Programs such as WebWatcher can help track children’s history online. Even FBI agent, Diane Holtz, maintains that children should not be allowed to use computers alone. Many abused children don’t tell what’s happened to them because they feel they are responsible or don’t understand that they have been victimized. The best means of prevention is education and honest communication.

This recent Cincinnati News report focused on this issue and how teens can find themselves easily over their heads. A 16-year-old girl was dating an adult male and quite taken with him, she e-mailed him naked pictures of herself. When she sought to end their relationship, however, he threatened to post the pictures on the Internet. He even went so far as to insist she sleep with him. Desperate, she turned to her parents, who contacted the police.

The teen and her adult lover met online and without really developing a personal relationship, began sleeping together, exchanging naked photos and more. This type of relationship – or lack thereof – demonstrates the ways teens today are manipulating cyberspace to put themselves and others at risk.

Many a parent today is unaware of what devices with Internet connections and texting can do. They are also unaware of the risks teens take when they take naked pictures of themselves or others. Even receiving naked pictures can put the teen at risk.

Law enforcement around the country are now putting together presentations for schools so that teens and their parents understand the risks in cyberspace. Both groups need to be aware that nothing exchanged in the Internet is private and a simple joke can land someone on the sex offender list for life.
 

Prevalence of the Problem of Parental Sexual Abuse of Children

Estimates of child sexual abuse vary – and are generally considered to be on the low side. What is reported as child sexual abuse is only a glimpse of the true picture. Although child sexual abuse is reported about 80,000 times a year, the real number is undoubtedly much higher. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, incest is the most common form of child abuse with studies showing that 43 percent of children who are abused have been abused by family members. More than 10 million Americans, according to other research, have been victims of incest. Other estimates show 20 million Americans have been victimized by parent incest as children. Child abuse researcher David Finkelhor estimates that 1 million Americans are victims of father-daughter incest.

Child sexual abuse can be committed by a parent or step-parent, sibling, or other relative and take place within the family. It can also occur outside the home, perpetrated by a neighbor, teacher, child-care worker, friend, or neighbor.

After Sexual Abuse – What Happens with the Child

After a child has been sexually abused, they may develop a variety of feelings, thoughts and behaviors that are both confusing and distressing. It is important to note that no child is psychologically prepared to deal with or cope with the type of sexual stimulation that occurs with repeated abuse. Experts warn that even children as young as two or three, who cannot possibly know that the sexual activity is wrong, will develop problems as a result of not being able to cope with the overstimulation.

When a child is five or older and cares for the sexual abusing parent, the child can become trapped in conflicting feelings of loyalty and affection and the sense that the sexual activity is drastically wrong. Should the child attempt to break away from the sexual relationship, he or she may be threatened by the abusing parent. These threats may take the form of violence or loss of love, or both. Taking place within the family, where few secrets are maintained indefinitely, the sexually abused child may also bear the brunt of other family members’ anger, jealousy, and/or shame. In addition, the sexually abused child may fear the family will break up if others outside the family learn about the abuse.

Children who are the victims of prolonged sexual abuse usually develop low self-esteem, a sense of worthlessness, and a distorted or abnormal view of love and sex. Often withdrawn, such children may look upon all adults with distrust. The children may even become suicidal.

As they mature, without treatment, children who have been sexually abused by a parent may have difficulty relating to others in anything other than on sexual terms. Some children grow up themselves to be sexual abusers of children, while others become prostitutes, or have other serious problems when they become adults.
In many cases, just looking at the child reveals no indication of sexual abuse by a parent or others. In other words, there may be no external signs of the abuse that are obvious. Only a physical exam by a doctor can detect some of the signs of sexual abuse.

There are other signs, however, that may indicate the presence of child sexual abuse. A child who has been sexually abused may develop the following:

• Aggressiveness that is unusual
• Conduct problems or delinquency
• Depression, or withdrawal from family members and friends
• Nightmares or sleep problems
• Refusal to go to school
• Show aspects of sexual molestation in drawings, fantasies, and games
• Unusual interest in or avoidance of anything of a sexual nature
• Secretiveness
• Seductiveness
• Suicidal thoughts or actions
• Talk about their body as dirty, damaged, or say that there is something wrong in the area of their genitals

Sexually Abused Children Need Professional Treatment

It is a myth that children who have been sexually abused are destined to have their lives forever ruined, or that they are “damaged goods.” Treatment professionals acknowledge that while the sexual victimization of children is incredibly damaging, quick and appropriate treatment is the best way to speed the healing. Intervention is critical as well, since most cases of family sexual abuse will continue for years unless it is stopped.
Once the children have become adults, healing the sexual trauma inflicted upon them in their youth can take a long time, especially if they have repressed memories of the abuse. But all child sexual abuse victims can benefit from treatment and become fully functioning and healthy children and adults.

Child and adolescent psychologists can help the sexually abused child to regain a sense of self-esteem, to cope with the incredible feelings of guilt surrounding the abuse, begin to overcome the trauma, and dramatically reduce the likelihood of developing further problems as an adult.

Following intervention, treatment of the sexually abused child may take the form of individual and/or group therapy. In any case, treatment is a complex process involving a multidisciplinary team. In family sexual abuse situations, all members of the family should be involved in treatment. For a more in-depth look at the subject, see Child Sexual Abuse: Intervention and Treatment Issues, a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), posted on the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Treatment Issues for the Child Victim

Each child who has been sexually abused by a parent will have different treatment issues. Some will have one or more of the following, although there may be others not indicated here, depending on circumstances.

• Trust – The child’s ability to trust other people has been seriously jeopardized by the sexual abuse by a parent. Not only has the parent, who is supposed to be the caregiver and nurturer, violated the boundaries of acceptable behavior, they have exploited the child for their own selfish purposes. The child may also suffer other maltreatment at the hands of the parental abuser, such as violence, neglect, and psychological abuse. In treatment, the therapist seeks to create circumstances in which the child has positive experiences with adults in order to ameliorate the damage done by the abusing parent. This may involve rehabilitating the parents and/or creating positive adult relationships with foster parents, other relatives, or mentors. Trust and absolute honesty are required in order for the therapist to make progress with the abused child.

• Emotional reactions – Three of the most common emotional reactions to child sexual abuse are feeling responsible and guilty, having an altered sense of self and self-esteem, and anxiety and fear.

o The offending parent may have made the child feel responsible for the abuse, for their own well-being and/or the consequences of the abuse. The child may also feel guilty that he or she didn’t stop the abuse or guilt and shame over any positive aspects of the abuse (physical pleasure, special attention from the abuser, the control the abused child has over other family members). The therapist works to have the child accept intellectually and emotionally that they are not at fault for the abuse. They did not cause it and they didn’t deserve it. It was the responsibility of the parent to stop the abuse, not the child.

o Guilty feelings along with the intrusive nature of the sexual abuse cause children to feel a diminished sense of self and low self-esteem. This manifests in both physical and psychological ways as the child feels different from other children. Helping the child to recover goes beyond encouraging them to feel whole again. It encompasses ego-enhancing activities such as doing well in school, participating in sports, getting involved in activities such as the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

o Children who have been sexually abused have considerable anxiety and fear attached to the trauma. They may even develop phobic reactions to the event, the parent, to experiences that remind them of the abuse. Helping the child to overcome such fears and anxieties involves various therapies, such as play therapy, discussions, or interventions in the child’s environment. First, however, the therapist has to ensure that the child is not being sexually abused or at risk of being sexually abused.

• Behavioral reactions – One serious behavioral reaction to child sexual abuse is sexualized behavior. This may include excessive masturbation and open or sexual interaction with other people. Such behavior may become worse the longer it goes on. Therapists teach behavioral controls and channel the child’s energies into more appropriate behaviors. Left untreated, sexualized behavior in the child may lead to being first an adolescent offender and then an adult offender. Other behavioral problems – aggression, running away, self-harm, substance abuse, sleep and eating problems, toilet training, and suicidal behavior – are treated by:

o Helping the victim understand the relationship between the abuse and their emotional or cognitive reaction to it

o Helping them see the self-destructive nature of the behaviors

o Helping them find more appropriate expression for their emotions

o Behavioral interventions to reduce problem behavior

o Group therapy for older children, as appropriate

• Cognitive reactions – A very important aspect of therapy for the sexually abused child is to help them understand the meaning of the abuse. This includes a discussion of what is appropriate and inappropriate touching, why sexual activity between adults and children is wrong, and why a parent was sexual with them. Group and/or individual therapy may be used at this point. And explanations that will satisfy a young child may no longer work as the child gets older. A therapist will need to address the issues on a more sophisticated level as the child matures.

• Protection from future victimization – Children need to be taught how to protect themselves from being victims in the future. This may involve how to say no, telling someone about the abuse. However, the therapist needs to be aware of the potential for the child to feel overwhelmed by placing even partial responsibility for keeping themselves protected.

Outlook for Treated Children

There is no cut-and-dried formula that dictates how long treatment will need to continue for children who have been sexually abused by a parent. Each individual reacts differently, depending on the type and duration of the sexual abuse, age and sex of the child, any other maltreatment of the child that occurred simultaneously, relationship with other family members, psychological, physical and other factors. Treatment is a very complex process, often involving years of therapy, first as a child, and later as an adolescent and into adulthood. Other family members should also participate in therapy, in order to address the underlying causes for the sexual abuse and to learn more effective ways of addressing such urges, as well as developing better parenting behavior.

For the sexually abused child, working to restore their sense of self and self-esteem, reducing anxieties and fears, learning appropriate behaviors, and developing the ability to trust others again all takes time. In some cases, it may take years. As previously stated, adult children, who have repressed memories of the sexual abuse, may require very lengthy treatment to overcome the damaging effects.

Experts say that early intervention and involvement in treatment poses the best chance for a successful recovery. Children, especially, are not prepared to handle the onslaught of emotional and psychological effects of sexual abuse by a parent. They have so many issues to address that it may seem overwhelming to the child. Therapists need to foster and develop complete trust and honesty with the child. Alternating male and female therapists may be advisable in some circumstances. Helping the child to heal includes forensic interviews, medical exams, and victim advocacy. Treatment also is part of an ongoing process that may involve the courts and legal system, child protective services, family therapy and other considerations.

The only way the child will overcome sexual abuse by a parent is with professional counseling. Children need help to heal on many levels. They cannot do it on their own. Left untreated, they will never be able to reach their true potential.

As a family member or an outsider (neighbor, friend, teacher, minister, etc.), if you suspect that a child has been sexually abused by a parent, notify your state and local child abuse protective services agency, or call law enforcement. Early intervention and treatment is absolutely necessary to help the child overcome sexual abuse by a parent. Treatment can be effective, can even save the life of the child. But someone has to take the first step to get help for the child.

Avoid Denial

If you see incontrovertible evidence of sexual behavior toward your child – you witness a family member touching your child in an inappropriate way, engaging in deep mouth kisses, demanding the child touch the adult’s genitals, etc. – the worst thing you could do is to deny there’s a problem. Don’t assume there must be some mistake, that you are misreading the situation. You aren’t. If you see this behavior, it’s already progressed beyond anything remotely resembling innocence. It must be stopped and stopped now.

Gently Remove the Child

Without causing undue attention or making the child feel in any way guilty, gently remove the child from the environment. This could be an invitation to go to the store or the movies or a play date with friends. Use the opportunity to divert the child’s attention, and remove him or her from the presence of the adult or older child family member. If you are the parent, and the offending family member is another of your children, you have the upper hand. If you are one of the parents and your spouse is the offender, you may have a more difficult time extricating your child from the situation. Use your best judgment, but get the child out of the circumstance as quickly and safely as possible.

Determine the Facts

Children are hyper alert to any signs of disapproval, particularly if they have been warned or threatened by the family member who has displayed inappropriate sexual behavior toward them. It’s important – crucial, actually – that you use caution when discussing what you have witnessed or learned about what’s been going on. Still, you need to determine the facts.

You will need to tailor your words to be age-appropriate, depending on the age of the child at the time. Children younger than four generally do not understand that it is wrong for an adult to behave toward them in a sexual manner. Children five and older do have some awareness that something about this behavior doesn’t feel right.

Questioning them too directly or indicating anger, shame, or hysteria will only make them afraid to talk about the situation. They will feel like you don’t love them and they’ve done something wrong. They will also likely feel shame, embarrassment and guilt over the behavior.

So, while you do need to determine the facts – how long this behavior has been going on, exactly what kind of behavior it is, etc. – you have to do so very carefully. First, however, you need to know what constitutes inappropriate sexual behavior.

Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

There are two types of inappropriate sexual behavior: touching and non-touching. Both are extremely damaging to a child.

• Inappropriate touching behavior – this includes touching a child’s genitals (penis, testicles, vulva, breasts or anus) for sexual pleasure or any other unnecessary purpose; making a child touch another person’s genitals, playing sexual (pants-down) games; putting objects or body parts (fingers, tongue, or penis) inside the vulva or vagina, mouth, or anus of a child for sexual pleasure or any other unnecessary purpose.

• Inappropriate non-touching behavior – Among the examples are showing a child pornography; exposing genitals to a child; asking children to interact with each other in a sexual manner; enticing a child online for sexual purposes; photographing a child in sexual poses; exposing a child to sexual activity in person or through technology; watching a child use the bathroom or undress – often without the child’s knowledge – often called “Peeping Tom” or “voyeurism.”

Signs of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

Due to the secretive nature of the behavior, it is very possible, even likely, that you may not witness the actual behavior. There are signs that you should be on the lookout for. The presence of a single sign doesn’t necessarily mean your child was abused, but if you notice several of them, it means the situation warrants your attention and action.

• Sudden or unexplained personality changes – your child may seem moody, depressed, clingy, withdrawn, angry, not really there (checked-out), or has significant eating habit changes

• Nightmares or inability to sleep, and extreme fear that seems without basis

• Resisting normal bathing routine or removing clothes even in appropriate situations

• Reverting to more child-like behavior, such as an older child resorting to thumb-sucking or wetting the bed

• Using adult or new words for parts of the body

• Becomes fearful of new places or of being alone with an adult or other sibling for reasons unknown

• Dreams, drawings, games, or writing about images that are frightening and/or sexual

• Stomach aches or other illness that appears to be without reason

• Engaging in adult-like, sexual activities with other children, toys or objects

• Physical symptoms such as unexplained bruises, pain or soreness around the mouth or genitals, sexually-transmitted
disease, or pregnancy

• Increasing secretiveness around the phone, cell phone or Internet

• Leaving clues that seem designed to provoke a discussion about issues that are sexual in nature

• Developing a special relationship with older persons that may include unexplained gifts, money or privileges

• Engaging in behavior that causes intentional harm to himself or herself – including burning, cutting, drug and/or alcohol use, promiscuity and running away

Take Steps to Eliminate Sexual Victimization of the Child

Once you know your child has been sexually victimized by a family member, you need to take the necessary steps to ensure no further sexual behavior takes place. How you accomplish this depends partly on family circumstances and partly on your own willingness or ability to get it done.

Asking the adult offender (your spouse or older child) to leave the home temporarily may be one option, but exercise caution. This may spark violence on the part of the person being asked to leave. Since most perpetrators of sexual abuse of children in the family are men or boys who are older and more powerful, you may fear attempting this on your own.

You should contact a child abuse hotline to talk about your situation and get appropriate referrals for help. Call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD, or Child Abuse National Hotline at 1-800-25ABUSE. A statewide listing is located at: http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/child-abuse/child-abuse-hotlines-phone-numbers.html. You can also contact local law enforcement if you are afraid for your safety – and the safety of your child. Remember that sexual abuse of a child is illegal in all states.

Once you report the sexual abuse (officially, and not just inquiring about what to do when calling a hotline), the process is set in motion. In many cases, this results in a forensic investigation, medical exam, intervention by the courts, removal of the child or offender from the home, treatment for the child, and treatment for the offender and other family members.

Seek Treatment for the Child

Treating the sexually abused child is a complex process that involves a multidisciplinary team of professionals. In the treatment phase of intrafamilial child sexual abuse, this team usually includes Child Protective Services (CPS) and/or foster care workers, professionals treating the child and family members, professionals providing other services (such as parenting guidance), someone from the prosecutor’s office, and various consultants.

The key issues to be considered at the intervention stage are removal of the child and/or offender from the family, the roles of the juvenile and criminal courts, family treatment plan, visitation, and reunification of the family.

As for specific treatment for the child, there is no single treatment method that is appropriate for every child. One that has been widely used for many years and is effective in treating children who have been sexually abused is Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has recognized TF-CBT as a model program and encourages its broader use by practitioners. Another treatment method, Child-Centered Therapy, has also proven effective.

According to the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), elements of effective therapy include the following:

• Education – The therapist shares information with the child and the non-abusing parent about common symptoms and reactions resulting from sexual abuse. This helps the child realize that his or her feelings and reactions are normal and that treatment can help. If one of the parents is the abuser, the whole family structure may have changed, and the remaining parent needs support to be more consistent and keep family life as secure as possible.

• Identifying feelings and learning techniques – The therapist helps the child identify feelings such as anxiety, jumpiness and sadness and gives the child techniques to soothe himself or herself. This is important so that the child doesn’t begin to withdraw from life in order to avoid having such feelings.

• Analyzing connections between thoughts, feelings and behaviors – Children who have been abused sexually often feel worthless, blame themselves for the abuse. The therapist helps the child examine his or her thoughts about everyday events first, and then moves on to explore thoughts, feelings and beliefs about the abuse.

• Overcoming learned fears – This involves the therapist helping the child to unlearn the connection they’ve made between the abuse, negative feelings, and trauma reminders – things and events associated with the abuse.

• Trauma narrative – In this part of the therapy, the therapist helps the child to tell a coherent account of what happened, how it felt, and what it meant. The therapist then works to help the child identify and correct their distorted ideas and beliefs about the abuse.

Clinicians who can provide effective treatment for the child who has been sexually abused include psychiatrists, psychologists, or social workers. They should all be licensed and have a lot of experience in treating child trauma, including sexual abuse.
Treatment may include individual and/or group therapy, as well as family therapy. Treatment of young children generally requires strong parental involvement, and family therapy is particularly recommended. Adolescents, being more independent, may benefit more from group therapy as well as individual therapy. Again, major factors affecting the type of therapy recommended include the severity and type of the sexual act, frequency, age at which it first occurred, and the child’s family circumstances.

Children can Overcome Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

With treatment, children will be able to overcome inappropriate sexual behavior by a family member. But they cannot do it on their own. They need professional assistance to be able to sort out their feelings of guilt, shame, anger, embarrassment, and fear. They need to be reassured that they are not to blame for the sexual behavior. It was not their fault. They also need to be protected from any further victimization by a family member. It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that the child receives the help he or she needs, and to do whatever it takes to remedy the situation in the family.

Do you need to sever the relationship with the perpetrator? Will family counseling be effective? Can the family be reunited? Will things ever go back to normal? Will your child grow up to have a healthy and happy life? There are no easy answers to these questions. But you can be assured that if you act now to stop inappropriate sexual behavior by a family member toward your child and seek treatment to help everyone overcome it, you have a much greater likelihood of a successful outcome.
Children who have been the victims of inappropriate sexual behavior have every right to become whole again, to have all their hopes and dreams realized. You can help make that a reality. Do not deny what happened. Do not make excuses for your family member. Do seek help. Do end the sexual behavior. Do get help for your child and other family members. Do whatever it takes to protect your child.

Resources

For more information on child sexual abuse, check out the following resources:

• Prevent Child Sexual Abuse: Facts About Sexual Abuse and How to Prevent It – publication from Stop It Now

• Child Abuse: A Painful Secret – publication that examines the causes and prevention of child abuse, from NebGuide, University of Nebraska Lincoln

• Child Sexual Abuse: Facts for Families – publication from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (downloadable in PDF format from the site)

• Sexual Abuse of Children – online version (Child Trauma Academy) of a chapter published in Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, 2001

• Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse – from Child Welfare Information Gateway

• Questions and Answers About Child Sexual Abuse Treatment – from the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS)