Child Abuse Papers

Is child abuse taken as seriously as it should be? Alice was very young when she was sexually abused by a friend her family knew. It took Alice ten years to tell anyone what she had been through. She was scared because of what she went through, and did not know who she could trust to tell. Looking back, Alice feels as if she has lost her childhood. As she grew older, Alice noticed herself isolating herself from friends and family and began having night terrors. She had problems focusing in school and had problems remembering. Her method of coping was self harm. Alice had to attend court to testify against her abuser. She was questioned on her evidence video, but Alice was not aware she was going to have to watch it over and go in to detail
Sexual abuse occurs when an adult uses a child for sexual purposes or involves a child in sexual acts(https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse/). According to Elaine Landau, sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities they do not fully comprehend. This includes pedophilia, rape, and all forms of incest. Scientific studies of the incidence of sexual abuse are even more rare than in the field of physical abuse. Males are less likely to be targeted into sexual acts. Most women answer to the demands of their husbands, because of a bad childhood.(Child Abuse: An American Epidemic). In Child Abuse by William A Check, his thought on sexually abuse is "sexual abused children experience the feelings of guilt, worthlessness, shame and anxiety." Newyorktimes.com suggests the causes of sexual abuse are abuser was abused in the past, most suffer from pedophilia, and abusers violate the trust of the younger person. The three main risk factors are, alcohol or drug abuse, family troubles, and poverty. Sexual abuse has many effects such as: bowel/eating disorders, genital/rectal symptoms, repeated headaches, sleep problems, stomach aches, high risk behaviors, and excessive fears. If a person has been sexually abused they may need to treat/prevent sexual diseases. Older females can receive medications to prevent
Parents/caregivers do not understand the effects of child abuse. Many abusers were abused as children or may suffer from an illness. All types of abuse have the same mental effects on most children. Physical abuse normally starts of as verbal and escalates. The abuser usually has characteristics such as control, jealousy, and anger. According to childhelp.org, more than three million reports of child abuse are made in the us every year(https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse/). All risk factors of child abuse include alcohol/drug abuse, and family troubles. Child abuse effects children across America in the forms of verbal physical, and sexual abuse. Physical abuse is unreasonable hitting or forceful action. Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual acts. Verbal abuse is using words to tear at a person's heart. All forms of abuse make children experience fear, worthless, and anger. Child abuse is an epidemic that happens across America every day. Many abused children are too afraid to tell someone what is happening, so many cases go unreported. According to psychologytoday.com, child abuse is widespread and can occur in any cultural, ethnic, and income group. Also, studies show that one and four girls one in eight boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. One in twenty children are physically abused each year. It's not always easy to recognize child abuse. Parents often do not recognize symptoms of abuse because they