According to recent statistics, sexual abuse has become one of the most common forms of abuse resulting in notable impacts to the society with regard to the underlying impacts that such incidences of sexual abuse have on the victims involved. Sexual abuse, otherwise referred to as molestation, refers to unintended or unexpected sexual behavior focusing on a specific individual. According to King (2017), the perpetuation of force or the idea of taking advantage of others as a way of coercing them towards sexual behaviors accounts as sexual abuse, as these sexual behaviors are undesired or unintended. Most of the victims associated with sexual abuse have a clear understanding of their abusers, who, in most cases, are people close to them including close family members, relatives, and friends (Embregts, Heestermans, & van den Boogaard, 2017). That is especially common when dealing with cases of sexual abuse in children, who recount abuse from close family members with the responsibility of protecting these children. In that view, this report will embark on an in-depth analysis of the topic of sexual abuse in a bid to establishing signs, effects, and treatments associated with sexual abuse.
Victims of Sexual Abuse
The victims of sexual abuse tend to vary depending on the scenarios and environments in which such acts of sexual abuse occur. However, the legal perspective associated with sexual abuse does not change regardless of the variations in scenarios, environments, and victims affected by the undesired sexual behaviors. The first category of victims is spouses in which this type of abuse is considered as spousal sexual abuse. The victims in this type of sexual abuse face undesired sexual behaviors in the form of domestic violence, which, in most cases, constitutes as rape (Rudolph, Zimmer-Gembeck, Shanley, & Hawkins, 2017). The occurrence of domestic violence may escalate towards threats of undesired sexual contact, which, in some cases, resulted in forced sex, thus, amounts to sexual abuse.
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Secondly, children find themselves exposed to sexual abuse, which is one of the standard types of child abuse cases. Walsh, Zwi, Woolfenden, & Shlonsky (2018) argue that children remain as being very vulnerable about sexual abuse considering that those engaging in child sexual abuse are considered as being close to these children in one way or another. In some cases, the children exposed to sexual abuse tend to suggest that the relationships that they create with adults and adolescents may have exposed them to increased risks of sexual abuse. In most cases, adults and adolescents expose these children to sexual abuse, which may include direct sexual contact with the adults and adolescents using these children for their sexual gratification. Thirdly, people with developmental disabilities also face a higher risk of sexual abuse considering that they are viewed as being somewhat vulnerable to such acts of sexual abuse.
Most of the people suffering from developmental disabilities lack a sense of understanding or comprehension, which increases their vulnerability towards exposure to sexual abuse. In most cases, touching on people with developmental disabilities, the undesired sexual behaviors arise from their intended caregivers, who take advantage of the fact that these individuals have disabilities to use them for their sexual gratification (Walsh, Zwi, Woolfenden, & Shlonsky, 2018). Fourthly, people who have dementia also face a high risk of exposure to sexual abuse, as most of these people rely on others for social support. Statistics indicate that these individuals face a high risk of indecent touching with health facilities taking care of these children working towards covering up some of these allegations. The main vulnerability of people with dementia is that it becomes hard for them to comprehend the extent of the actions against them, thus, creating a leeway, which sexual abusers may use to their advantage when propagating sexual abuse.
Emotional and Physicals Signs of Sexual Abuse
When evaluating the impacts of sexual abuse, one of the critical aspects to consider is the emotional or physical signs that would suggest that an individual has been exposed to some form of sexual abuse. From an emotional perspective, individuals that have experienced sexual abuse tend to become enclosed in themselves considering that they tend to lose trust in others, thus, allowing them to believe that staying alone may help in dealing with such effects (Rudolph, Zimmer-Gembeck, Shanley, & Hawkins, 2017). Psychologists use social retraction as one of the critical signs that would suggest that an individual has experienced some form of sexual abuse. However, it is important to note that these individuals tend to lack the courage that would allow them to share their experiences. That may arise from the threats that they receive from their abusers during sexual abuse, which creates some form of fear within the victims.
On the other hand, individuals that have been exposed to sexual abuse tend to show signs of anxiety and fear in specific environments that would remind them of the sexual abuse that they encountered. For example, in cases where sexual abuse occurs within the workplace environment, the victims involved tend to develop anxiety attacks or fear while in the same workplace environment, as it reminds them of sexual abuse. From a physical perspective, victims of sexual abuse tend to complain of pain within their genitals or in some cases female nipples attributed to sexual abuse. Physical examination of sexual abuse victims is important, as it works towards ensuring that the victims do not find themselves in positions where they tend to experience immense physical effects due to sexual abuse. The fact that these sexual behaviors are unintended or undesired means that the overall levels of physical impacts of such acts would increase significantly depending on exposure.
Effects of Sexual Abuse
On the other hand, it is essential to take note of some of the underlying effects associated with sexual abuse, as this would seek to determine the healthcare support strategies to implement when dealing with such victims. The first effect associated with sexual abuse is that most of the victims tend to show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) considering that sexual abuse is a form of traumatic experience (Embregts, Heestermans, & van den Boogaard, 2017). PTSD arises in cases where individuals are exposed to a traumatic experience or event, which may result in mental incapacity for the individual individuals involved. That is especially prudent in children, who experience sexual abuse, as they tend to suffer from severe forms of PTSD in their transition to later stages of life. In some cases, this affects their abilities to function effectively especially in cases where the perpetrators of such acts of sexual abuse are well known to them.
The second effect associated with sexual abuse is that most of the victims associated with sexual abuse tend to incline towards suicide ideation considering that they consider themselves as being unworthy of living. Exposure to sexual abuse creates a situation where the victims involved tend to experience some form humiliation, which results in shame and self-blame. Consequently, this creates a situation where the individuals tend to develop suicide ideation as a way of ensuring that they seek to eliminate the shame that they experience based on their exposure to sexual abuse. Thirdly, victims of sexual abuse are more likely to show signs of depression and anxiety disorders attributed to their exposure to events that would be considered as traumatic. When dealing with the effects of sexual abuse, one of the critical areas that psychologists consider is whether the victims project any signs of depression and anxiety disorders, as this may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of treatment.
Treatments Associated with Sexual Abuse
When dealing with sexual abuse, it is essential to consider the fact that sufficient capacity for the victims exposed to such violence to deal with such cases would depend wholly on their involvement in treatment. The first form of treatment for sexual abuse is an intake of medication that seek to prevent exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, as well as, preventing pregnancies. In every emergency department, health professionals have a provision of providing victims of sexual abuse with contraceptives and other preventing medication with the aim of ensuring that these victims are not exposed to any unwanted pregnancies or medical issues (Gonzalez, Wheeler, & Daire, 2017). However, the effectiveness of such medication depends wholly on time is taken for these victims to reach emergency rooms considering some of the medication given would not work after a specific period.
Secondly, victims of sexual abuse must go through counseling and therapy as part of dealing with the trauma associated with their exposure to sexual abuse. In most cases, group therapy acts as an active form of treatment when dealing with sexual abuse, as it provides these victims with an avenue from which to understand that it is not their fault that sexual abuse has occurred. In some cases, these victims also believe that they are the only individuals going through such scenarios, thus, creating the need for group therapy as part of providing these victims with a new lease of hope about their situations. However, personal counseling may also act as a practical approach in dealing with the effects of sexual abuse, as it helps in ensuring that the victims involved can speak about their experience. Speaking about their experience is essential in ensuring these patients develop a sense of connection towards their experience and move past such experiences.
Sexual Abuse Prevention Measures and Programs
The adoption of sexual abuse prevention programs would act as one of the critical approaches in dealing with the increased number of cases associated with sexual abuse targeting different victims. The prevention programs may be considered as being school-based or community-based programs, which may vary depending on the need in dealing with the issue in question. When dealing with a school-based program, engagement in campaigns educating the children on sexual abuse may act as one of the critical approaches to help deal with the issue extensively. In most cases, children tend to lack that element of knowledge on what is expected in their bid to avoiding environments that are more likely to expose them to sexual abuse, which acts as a contributing factor to increased cases.
The adoption of campaigns against sexual abuse within schools and academic institutions would work towards ensuring that children gain that element of understanding of their roles in preventing such occurrences. The campaigns may also stretch towards the community, in general, considering that most members of the community lack that element of understanding on what counts as sexual abuse. Education of the community will focus wholly on providing members of a given community with information on some of the key behaviors to look out for in their children (King, 2017). These behaviors will act as determinants that these children have been exposed to sexual abuse, thus, paving the way for taking of necessary steps towards preventing continued exposure. On the other hand, the campaigns may also seek to provide members of the community with information touching on some of the critical aspects that sexual molesters and abusers take advantage of in their bid to abusing other members of the society.
The development of a sexual molesters and abusers database may also work as a practical approach towards preventing further exposure of the community to the risks associated with sexual abuse. The use of this database will be extensive especially in instances where children are involved considering that any individual marked as a sexual abuser is more likely to engage in another act of sexual abuse. When seeking employment in schools, schools managements may use the information on the database to determine whether an applicant has been marked as a sexual abuser (Gonzalez, Wheeler, & Daire, 2017). That means that it becomes harder for sexual abusers to get access to the vulnerable members of the society, which prevents further exposure to different forms of sexual abuse. The long-term effect of using this database would be evident from a significant reduction in the number of sexual abuse cases recorded.
Conclusion
In summary, sexual abuse is one of the critical forms of abuse within the society today with more people finding themselves exposed to different forms of sexual abuse. In most cases, those exposed to sexual abuse indicate that people close to them, who may include close family members, relatives, and friends, are the primary propagators of such acts of sexual abuse. Some of the notable victims associated with exposure to sexual abuse include spouses, as sexual abuse comes in the form of domestic violence, children, people with dementia, and people with developmental disorders. From an emotional perspective, individuals that have experienced sexual abuse tend to become enclosed in themselves considering that they tend to lose trust in others. From a physical perspective, victims of sexual abuse tend to complain of pain within their genitals or in some cases female nipples attributed to sexual abuse. The effects of sexual abuse range from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to inclination towards suicide ideation considering that they consider themselves as being unworthy of living.
References
Embregts, P. J., Heestermans, M., & van den Bogaard, K. J. (2017). A training course for psychologists: learning to assess (alleged) sexual abuse among victims and perpetrators who have intellectual disabilities. Sexuality and disability, 35(1), 39-44.
Gonzalez, J. E., Wheeler, N. J., & Daire, A. P. (2017). Exploratory analyses of cognitive schemas for a child and adolescent sexual abuse survivors: implications for the research to practice gap. Journal of mental health counseling, 39(1), 25-38.
King, F. J. (2017). Tragedy and Ethics: Responding to the Crisis of Historic Sexual Abuse. Anglican Theological Review, 99(3), 461-477.
Rudolph, J., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Shanley, D. C., & Hawkins, R. (2017). Child sexual abuse prevention opportunities: parenting, programs, and the reduction of risk. Child Maltreatment, 23(1), 96-106.
Walsh, K., Zwi, K., Woolfenden, S., & Shlonsky, A. (2018). School-based education programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse: a Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis. Research on social work practice, 28(1), 33-55.
