Sexual Abuse: Forms Of Abuse And Violence

Sexual abuse: forms of abuse and violence

At any stage of development, the presence of stressful incidents or adverse situations can represent a physical and psychological impact for the person. During childhood particularly, this can be mostly significant, since the child, not being logical, psychologically mature and being in the development phase, requires external conditions of stability and protection. Therefore, when a minor suffers inappropriate or clearly negative parenting conditions, the effects on their development can be very serious, where they influence a large number of psychological variables, such as the maturation of the nervous system and the neuroendocrine, thethat can impact and be the origin of serious personality and adaptation problems.

Because cognitive processes in childhood are quite limited, the protection of adults responsible for the child is essential, because to a large extent the meaning of events and children’s reactions will depend on the meanings that their caregivers attribute to the eventAnd of his reactions. In the same way, the characteristics of vital events such as duration, frequency, quantity, intensity and predictability, as well as their origin: natural (floods, earthquakes, etc.or humans (terrorism, abuse, rape, etc.). The latter, charge great relevance as a predictor of stress reactions, since the fact of being another person who determines the damage and that that person with whom he maintains a significant affective bond, aggravates the reaction and makes it more complex.

The reactions to adverse vital situations and catastrophic natural events of a person, will depend on different characteristics and different sources such as: specific conditions of the event, particular moment in which it occurs, cultural and social environment, evolutionary phase, etc.

Some forms and types of abuse and abuse can cause in the lowest psychological alterations that are explained through the post -traumatic stress disorder model (PTSD), when the abuses are very serious (extreme physical/emotional abuse, sexual abuse),For intense and everyday (because they are the abuser/a very close person as a mother, father, other relatives), they can affect more severely, compromising the development of the child’s personality, since it is configured in an environment of whichIt is not possible to escape, and it is established as the world of reference, without other meanings. Finkelhor, considers what serious and continuous abuse (and where appropriate, sexual), causes loss of trust towards other people, feeling of helplessness and helplessness, traumatic sexualization, by incorporating sexual aspects in interpersonal relationships early, accompanied by difficultiesTo establish normal intimate relationships and personal stigmatization, with a feeling of shame and guilt, coupled with the idea of having been responsible for the facts.

In 2002, the World Health Organization defined sexual violence such as: ‘All sexual act, the attempt to consumA person through coercion by another person, independent of the relationship with the victim, in any field, including home and workplace ”. This implies a relationship of submission between aggressor and victim, in which the latter rejects the sexual act explicitly or implicitly, for being incapacitated or due to lack of discernment. The acts of sexual violence involve not only the victim but also the family, social, ethical and legal environment.

Child sexual abuse (as), being a condition that is repeatedly given in time, that is, chronicly, it constitutes one of the most intense psychological traumas and devastating consequences for the structuring of the personality of those whosuffered, being considered a complex problem that requires the awareness of who treats it.

While anyone can be a victim of sexual assault, it is women who suffer to this violent behavior to a greater extent. In fact, about 20% of the female population suffers some sexual assault throughout their lives.

Data provided by Martínez Moya, from the Institute of Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, show that there are high indices of child sexual abuse, in which 77% of the victims are girls and the average age ofThose affected is 5 to 7 years, coupled with the fact that in most cases the victim knew the aggressor, being, from a close relative as the biological father, to the brother, the uncle, the cousin, the grandfather, thestepfather or a close friend of the family and even women close to the victim. Therefore, what reduces the possibility of asking for help or making any complaint, is related to the bond of trust, because they also continue to live with him to adult life.

The position of the researchers in the subject of Like is overwhelming, because in most cases studied, child sexual assaults constitute a traumatic experience with negative repercussions in the psychological state of those who suffer from them. The serious impact of child sexual abuse, together with the multiple symptomatic and pathological manifestations produced, realize that practically symptomatology is associated with a history of sexual abuse or rape. Investigations show that at least 80% of victims of infant-adolescent sexual aggressions suffer negative psychological consequences and present effects that can have an impact on adult life of not receiving adequate and timely treatment.

The seriousness of the problem lies in the multiple sequelae develop. In addition, there are few cases where it occurs in isolation, that is, it can generally be found in comorbidity with other types of abuse, such as psychological, emotional or physical. However, by itself, it is considered one more type of abuse during childhood. It is important to differentiate it from sexual violence, since child sexual abuse is considered repeated behavior in time, sustained, repetitive, persistent and inappropriate, which damages or substantially reduces both the creative potential and the development of the child’s mental faculties and processes (Intelligence, memory, recognition, perception, attention, imagination and moral). We are talking about a psychological entrapment, in which the minor is imprisoned by the abuser demands and where it is impossible to understand what happened or manage his environment, for the confusion and fear that the situation produces. The impact of impact is observed on their behavior, its emotional and psychological discomfort, as well as in its social life and sometimes in your body. This is how the child who has been a victim of like this, usually suffers very negative consequences for its psychological functioning, particularly when the aggressor is a family member and when a violation has been committed. Although a certain correlation between sexual abuse during childhood and the appearance of emotional alterations and/or sexual behaviors missed in adult life has been observed, long -term consequences are more uncertain and difficult to detect.

There are cases where the psychological impact of long -term sexual abuse can be small (unless it is a serious sexual abuse with penetration), however, if the victim suffers other additional adversities, such as emotional abandonment, physical abuse, the divorce of the parents, a serious family pathology, etc. The consequences derived from the fact can be aggravated.

Portillo, argues that the psychological impact of sexual abuse will depend on the frequency, the duration, the severity of abuse, on the relationship with the aggressor, on the phase of the victim’s psychological development when the event took place, on resourcespersonal coping and shocking factors that the victim has, such as cohesive family relationships, the social support network or positive self – esteem. These buffer factors will help the victim in reducing the psychological impact. Therefore, the reaction to the experience of victimization and the characteristics of it, is not the same in all people, so Echeburúa & Corral, argue that the consequences of sexual abuse depend on:

The evolutionary stage: it was previously thought that if the memory occurred in the preschool, the memory was less than if it occurred in the school or pubertal stage, but it has been proven that it is not so, at a lower age the damage to the construction of the self is deeper.

The relationship with the abuser: it is always more harmful when the abuser is known, because there is a conflict of loyalty, while, if the aggressor is unknown, the child can be clearly visualized as a victim.

The frequency with which it occurs: it is more serious when it happens frequently.

The type of unveiling: corresponds to when the abuse is discovered, it is more protective when the child is and feels supported by the process of revealing the secret. This stage does not always happen.

The reaction of the environment: a better prognosis has a child who is validated or that his testimony is believed, compared to one who is listed as a liar or where the mother is in complicity with the abuser. It is precisely to the reaction of the environment to what the victim fears most, for this reason, the consequences of revealing the abuse and intensity of the experienced symptoms, depends on the reaction of it, which plays a fundamental role, especially on theMother, and, above all, that it does not assume an ambivalent attitude, of avoidance or complicity, since their position is a key element for the victim to maintain or recover their level of adaptation. In this process, something that is very important, is to know be believed, that what they say will be taken into account. However, sometimes the parents’ response to the revelation of abuse can be more intense than that of the child himself, that is, he can affect parents in such a way, that they are unable to protect the child properly and in casesmore serious can even blame him for what happened. In addition to all this, it is also important to consider the legal, family and social consequences that the revelation of abuse entails. Such is the case where the mother realizes her child’s sexual abuse starring her own partner. The feelings of shame and guilt, of anger and sorrow, of fear and anxiety, can affect parents in such a way that they are unable to protect the child properly and, in the most serious cases, they can even blame him for what happened.

Sometimes the victim does not develop apparent problems during childhood, but may appear as new problems in adult life and not consider the relationship.

Child sexual abuse and associated psychopathology

The long -term consequences in the victims of this vary from some cases to another, but it is observed that there is a close relationship between this phenomenon and the appearance of emotional alterations in youth and in adult life. However, in the case of chronic victimization of sexual abuse, the most frequently found symptoms in victims are those referring to ‘sexualized behavior’, considered as the most characteristic symptom of child sexual abuse, in addition to related toAlterations in the sexual sphere, whether sexual dysfunctions or less enjoyment capacity. 

Many authors do not consider that the PTSD diagnostic category is sufficient to describe the nuclear reactions experienced by victims of systematic abuse or violation, that is, it is not enough to define the consequences of the traumas that occurred repeatedly and intensely, and/or perpetratedFor people with whom the victim maintained an affective bond.

Domestic, familiar or sexual abuse is given for long periods of time, in which the minors are trapped and conditioned by a large number and variety of stressful circumstances. In the way because the victim is psychologically and physically immature, their development is seriously committed by repeated abuse and the inadequate response by some family members or other caregivers;For example, when the mother denies or accepts the incestuous relationship of her father or stepfather with her daughter. In this case, the child is immersed in an environment in which, trauma occurs repeatedly and accumulatively and is what is called "complex traum. In these cases, severe psychological trauma would determine a complex post -traumatic reaction diagnosis, and develops when vital conditions overflow the chances of understanding and cognitively and emotionally assimilating experience, altering the perception of itself, of affectivity and the world 

In other words, when we refer to complex trauma, we are talking about the disorder that a person suffers due to the accumulation of chronic traumatization. This disorder that can be generated when a person remains in traumatizing contexts for a long time, chronifying the damage and symptoms;Or also, when a person suffers, at various vital moments, traumatic experiences that become complex trauma due to accumulation of damage, as corresponds to traumatization due to sexual abuse in childhood.