Child Sexual Abuse: How To Teach Your Child To Realize, Respond, and Report
jessica albert 
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Child sexual abuse is one of the worst curses that our society is dealing with. As parents, we are always worried when our children stay over at a friend’s place or when they’re on a school trip. We never know if they are completely safe from sexual predators. Also, always keeping a close watch on them and being too clingy can make them less confident and rebellious in the future. So, what is the solution? It’s simple- train your child to deal with such situations and in case something wrong happens, deal with it the right way.
How To Realize When Your Child Is A Victim Of Sexual Abuse?
A child who has been sexually abused or is suffering from the abuse continually will show behavioral changes that might be easy for you to understand (1). The only thing is that you must know these changes mean something severe. Here’s what you need to watch out for (2):
- Keeping away from you completely or getting too clingy
- Frequent nightmares and lack of sleep
- Wanting to touch their own body or others to touch them
- Sudden adult sexual behavior like using inappropriate words and gestures
- Becoming distrustful of adults and keeping too many secrets from you
- When your child comes home with gifts very often
- Hints in their drawings
- Over eating or under eating
- Physical symptoms like penile and vaginal discharge, pain in the gential area, abrasions, and injuries on the body.
It’s not necessary that your child is being sexually abused if you notice any one of these symptoms. However, if you find more than one and you’ve got the feeling that something’s wrong, trust your instincts. It’s always good to be on the safer side because ignoring these issues can worsen the situation and it can also lead to unwanted pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).
How To Respond To Child Sexual Abuse?
The first thing you need to do is to talk to your child and make them feel that they can tell you what has been happening. Make sure that you stay calm because if you get worried, your child’s feeling of fear or guilt will just worsen. You need to stay strong and provide emotional support to the victim. You can express your anger and concern among adults because even you need very strong support in such a situation.
The next thing to do is to make sure that your child is safe. Tell him/her that you’re with them and you won’t let anything wrong happen again. Also, talk to the school authorities so that the teachers can be extra cautious about the things that are happening. Seek help from a counselor to bring back your child from the trauma.
How To Report Child Sexual Abuse In India?
You can file a police complaint against the culprit and sue them so that the horrible things they did don’t get repeated. According to Section 19 and 21 (1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, it is mandatory to report such cases, not just by the victim but also by anyone who is aware of the abuse (3).
Prevention is better than cure. Always remember to teach your child to differentiate between the right touch/talk/behavior and the wrong one. Be it a stranger, friend, or a close family member, tell your child what to do when someone does something wrong to them. Teach them how to avoid such situations when someone starts to give hints and how to run away and stay in a safe place if someone tries to exert force. You can also sign your kid up for self-defense classes and give them a taser or a pepper spray with clear usage instructions.
Be open to your child and listen to their problems so that they always feel like they can share things with you. And know that there is always protection and help that will be given to your child and you in any case of emergency.
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