What is Sexual Assault?
Sexual assault takes many forms including attacks such as rape or attempted rape, as well as any unwanted sexual contact or threats. Usually a sexual assault occurs when someone touches any part of another person's body in a sexual way, even through clothes, without that person's consent. ”
But how can we avoid this? I will discuss the two most popular behavior:
Child sexual abuse
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It is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities (regardless of the outcome), indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual sexual contact against a child, physical contact with the child's genitals, viewing of the child's genitalia without physical contact or using a child to produce child pornography.
The effects of child sexual abuse include depression post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, propensity to re-victimization in adulthood and physical injury to the child, among other problems. Sexual abuse by a family member is a form of incest. It is more common than other forms of sexual assault on a child and can result in more serious and long-term psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest.
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Approximately 15 to 25 percent of women and 5 to 15 percent of men were sexually abused when they were children.
Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims. Approximately 30 percent of the perpetrators are relatives of the child- most often brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters and uncles or cousins. Around 60 percent are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbors and strangers are the offenders in approximately 10 percent of child sexual abuse cases.
Studies have shown that the psychological damage is particularly severe when sexual assault is committed by parents against children due to the incestuous nature of the assault. Incest between a child or adolescent and a related adult has been identified as the most widespread form of child sexual abuse with a huge capacity for damage to a child. Often, sexual assault on a child is not reported by the child for several of the following reasons:
-children are too young to recognize their victimization or put it into words
-they were threatened or bribed by the abuser
-they feel confused by fearing the abuser
-they are afraid no one will believe them
-they blame themselves or believe the abuse is a punishment
-they feel guilty for consequences to the perpetrator
Many states have criminalized sexual contact between teachers or school administrators and students, even if the student is over the age of consent.
Sexual harassment
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Sexual harassment is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature. It may also be defined as the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In the United States, sexual harassment is a form of discrimination which violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The legal and social definition of what constitutes sexual harassment differ widely by culture. Sexual harassment includes a wide range of behaviors from seemingly mild transgressions to serious forms of abuse. Some forms of sexual harassment overlap with sexual assault. 79% of victims are women, 21% are men.
Don't let one of your family member be a victim of this behavior. Be aware. Be alert.
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