Tag Archives: alcohol abuse

Children Molesting Children

Minneapolis SlutWalk Protesting Stigmatization of Victims of Sexual Assault (2011), Author Alan from Minneapolis, (CC Attribution 2.0 Generic)

A North Carolina couple are suing the Wake Forest Magnet Elementary School where they say their 6 y.o. son was sexually assaulted multiple times by a classmate, even after the abuse was reported to a teacher and the school’s principal [1].

We do not hear of the tragedy of child-on-child sexual abuse often.  But children do at times molest other children [2].

Force, Threats, and Trickery

Child-on-child sexual abuse is to be distinguished from the normal, anatomical curiosity of children.  It may involve physical force, threats, or trickery.  The victim may actually “cooperate” – not comprehending, by reason of his or her tender years, the nature of what is being done.

Child-on-child sexual abuse can, in fact, take place between siblings.  The victims of this type of incest may develop a distorted recollection of the violation (picturing, themselves, as the initiator or the sex acts as consensual, as a means of psychological self-protection).

Causes

A.  Sexual Abuse

Young children who engage in sexual abuse may, themselves, have been sexually abused [3A].

B.  Exposure to Sexual Activity 

They may repeatedly have witnessed the sexual activity of adults at an early age, and be attempting to imitate their elders [3B].  They may, for instance, live with adults (or teens) who act out sexually after drinking or taking drugs.  They may even live in a household where sexual services are bartered for rent or sold outright. 

C.  Exposure to Pornography

They may simply have been exposed to pornography, or confused and overwhelmed by the amount of sexual imagery on TV, in movies and videos, in video games, and on the internet [3C]. Continue reading

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Filed under Child Abuse, Child Molestation, Emotional Abuse, Neglect, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse

Relapse

File:EB1911 Greek Art - Foot-race - Panathenaic Vase.jpg

Foot-race at the Panathenaea (c. 800 BC – 480 BC), reverse of an ancient Greek vase, Source Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), (PD)

Despite decades of counseling, abuse victims may struggle with the scars of their trauma for a lifetime.  This is a discouraging truth whether applicable to alcohol or drug abuse, eating disorders, cutting, or other self-destructive behaviors stemming from the abuse.

When we do relapse the shame returns full force.  But the conclusions we draw from our relapse are important.

Not Worthless or Hopeless

That we have relapsed does not mean that we are worthless and our situation hopeless.  It simply means that we are human beings who have been deeply wounded.

Survival Skills

Nor does relapse mean that the survival skills we struggled to acquire have been proven useless.  We have simply set them aside, in favor of more familiar and more damaging behaviors [1]. Continue reading

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Filed under Child Abuse, Child Molestation, Christianity, domestic abuse, domestic violence, Emotional Abuse, Neglect, Physical Abuse, Religion, Sexual Abuse