Childhood sexual abuse and violence

Sexual maltreatment is one of the most common forms of child abuse. It has become one of the major social concerns due to the recent awareness of the devastating consequences of child sexual abuse on the health and well being of the victims, including risk-taking behaviours, drug abuse, anxiety disorders and suicidal behaviour. But recent research points out that most boys who were sexually abused do not necessarily become abusers themselves but there are certain factors that may increase the risk, such as a lack of basic needs in childhood and violence at home. Researchers at the Behavioural and Brain Sciences Unit in UK investigated the cycle of sexual abuse by assessing the background and behavioural characteristics of 224 male children who had been referred to a sexual abuse clinic. They then looked at evidence of later abusive behaviour in the group from police and social services files. It was found that 26 of the former victims had later committed sexual abuse. Risk factors during childhood for later abuse included neglect, lack of supervision and sexual abuse by a female person. The researchers found that sexually abused boys who spent their childhood in homes that lacked material necessities like clothing were more than three times as likely as those who were more comfortable in childhood to become later abusers. Abused boys who became abusers also tended to have been less supervised as children, and to have suffered sexual abuse from a female abuser. Later abusers were also three times as likely as boys who did not become abusers, to have witnessed serious violence between family members - a factor that played an especially significant role in the cycle of abuse. The researchers said that domestic violence can almost give boys "permission" to be violent towards women or other people considered to be less physically powerful. The above findings point to the implications for the design of interventions with a group of male victims, aimed at reducing the risk of sexually offensive behaviour in later life. In the study, environmental factors such as violence within family and child neglect are associated with repetition of sexual abuse. These factors should be taken into account in the management of victims. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that sexual abuse in childhood itself may not increase the risk of being an abuser as much as the combination of the sexual abuse and other risk factors like domestic violence. It also becomes important to investigate what allows a young boy to overcome such a devastating experience in childhood.