Sexual Abuse

In the United States 1 out of 5 women have experienced an attempted or completed rape and 1 out of 3 women have experienced sexual abuse. The incidence of sexual abuse in children before the age of 18 is even greater, with approximately 1 out of 4 girls and 1 out of 7 boys. Their faces are in the schools, stores, churches, and many other common places within our communities. Sexual abuse is a form of violence that sweeps across all economic, racial, and ethnic boundaries. Sexual abuse is no respecter of person and exists in epidemic proportions from the East to the West Coasts in America.

The Facts:
• Marital rape accounts for 25% of all rapes.
• 3 in 4 women who report being raped where physically assaulted by a current or former husband, cohabitating partner, or date.
• 21% of college students report that have experienced dating violence by a current partner.
• 80% of homosexual women and 70% of homosexual men report being sexually abused in their childhood.
• 40% of young girls engaged in prostitution were sexually abused at home.
• The most vulnerable age for sexual abuse is between the ages of 7 and 13.

Sexual abuse is not a form of love or sexual gratification, rather at its core lays the intense desire of one to exert power over another so that the abuser can increase their feelings of low self-esteem and being cared for. Most sexual abuse victims report their abuser to be a current or former husband, close friend or dating partner, or family member. The abuser takes advantage of the relationship of trust to sexual abuse the victim, then uses that same trust to hide the crime.

Sexual abuse can take on many different forms. Unwanted sexual intercourse (forcible or nonforcible) is the most severe form of sexual abuse. Other actions of the more severe sexual abuse include, kissing, touching or contact with private areas (forcible or nonforcible). However, sexual abuse does include acts such as solicitation for sexual purposes, describing sexual acts, repeated use of sexual language and sexual terms, exposure to or use of pornography, exposure to sexual acts and sexual organs, inappropriate attention towards body parts for the purpose of sexual stimulation. For children the violation of physical/sexual boundaries and use of child as a spouse surrogate (confidant, intimate companion, protector, or counselor) are all forms of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse can be grossly overt or extremely subtle. Regardless, both are equally abusive and damaging to the victim.

Adults who have been victims of childhood sexual abuse experience such problems in adulthood as:
• The absence of memories for a period of childhood.
• Disinterest or excessive interest in sexual feeling or activities.
• Fear of dating or close relationships.
• Feelings of shame and guilt about the self, as though there is something inherently wrong or defective in the self.
• Low self-esteem.
• Body image distortions.
• Dissociative experiences.
• Depression.
• Eating disorders.
• Anxiety disorders.
• Engagement in self-inflicted violence.
• Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as flashbacks.
• Hyper vigilance.
• Agitation.
• Severe trouble sleeping.
• A person may keep her or his experience of being sexually abused a secret, often ashamed and afraid to share this part of the self and
  the past with others
• Have deep spiritual issues effecting their belief in God.

The first step in healing for the victim is to admit the abuse. The victim has experienced a crime against them and they are not at fault! Once the honest heart acknowledges the crime committed against them then it is the victims’ responsibility to go get help. The victim must take bold steps to heal from the abuse from the past and truly be free in mind, body, and spirit.