What is Child Sexual Abuse? CSA (Child Sexual Abuse) is an epidemic that has hit our society very hard. CSA is the involvement of dependent children and adolescents in sexual activities with an adult or any person who is bigger, where there is a difference in age, size or power in which the child is used as a sexual object for the gratification of the older person. This can take different forms: touching the victim’s breasts, buttocks, thighs, legs, vagina, penis (clothed or unclothed), oral or anal sexual penetration (forced or non-forcibly). It could also be verbal such as: asking a child to indulge in any sexual practice, seducing a child, description of sexual practices, repeated use of sexual language, using sexual terms as personal names. It could also be visual such as: Exposure to pornography, intentional (repeated) exposure to sexual acts, sexual organs and/or sexually provocative dresses; inappropriate scrutiny (attention) directed toward body (clothed or unclothed) or clothing for the purpose of sexual stimulation. A person may have experienced, any number of the abuse activities listed above. An abuser can be anyone, a child’s mother, father, pastor, brother, sister, neighbour, landlord, etc. It could be a woman or a man, there are men who abuse boys, men who abuse girls, and women who abuse boys and there are women who abuse girls. It can take any form or shape. It would be wrong to think that women don’t abuse or that boys don’t get abused. Also, anyone from any type of family can be abused; rich, poor, functional, dysfunctional, etc. Sexual abuse is damaging no matter how the victim is violated. This is because the dignity and beauty of the soul is violated. But God can restore everything lost. It involves betrayal, especially when done by a very close relative. The effects of sexual abuse by a father can more damaging than when the perpetrator is a cousin. Watch out for next week episode, CSA in Nigeria.
