Children may not want to disclose their abuse due to embarrassment, fear, or the desire to protect their perpetrator, who is usually someone known by the family or a family member.
Childhood sexual abuse has been defined in a variety of ways. These different definitions include overt abuse (defined as direct physical abuse or contact) and covert abuse (nonphysical abuse or noncontact), as well as differentiations in each category, including penetration and fondling for overt abuse and spying (or peeping), indecent exposure, and inappropriate sexual comments for covert abuse.
Treatment
Statistics show that millions of people in the United States have been sexually abused or raped before the age of 18. Yet few get adequate treatment for their abuse. Child abuse can cause a variety of mental and physical problems when the person gets older. Treatment for these problems can include psychotherapy and, if they are needed, psychiatric drugs that can alleviate certain symptoms and psychiatric conditions. If these symptoms are treated properly, they can be healed and the memories of child abuse can be worked on gradually and safely with a trained professional in the mental health field.
Reasons for Recanting
At times, a victim of child abuse may recant and claim that they were not abused. Some research has shown that very few actually lied originally. Victims of child abuse may recant due to wanting to maintain secrecy, their own denial, a lack of support, familial pressure, other pressures to recant or societal attitudes.
People that are responsible for acts of sexual and physical abuse may be prone to distorting or denying their behavior. They may have a variety of reasons for doing this, including avoiding punishment. Unfortunately, as in recent news reports, some child molesters take pictures of their acts against children and sell these. Child pornography rings have been shown to make large sums of money.
Reporting Allegations
It is very important to report a child's allegations to either Social Services or the local authorities when a child discloses their allegations of abuse. Certain professionals are legally mandated to do this. By doing this, one can help protect a child from further abuse and if needed help remove a child from an abusive situation.
Further Reading
The Leadership Council - False Allegations
How Childhood Sexual Abuse Affects Interpersonal Relationships
Bass, E., Davis, L. The Courage to Heal - Third Edition - Revised and Expanded: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. HarperCollins
Oksana, C. (2001) Safe Passage to Healing – A Guide for Survivors of Ritual Abuse. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.com. ISBN 0-595-201000-8
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