When Sexually Abused Children Misbehave
- Child Sexual Abuse invites traumatic sexuality among children.
- Child Sexual Abuse is related to Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD).
- Self-esteem determines the variance in Childhood Problem Sexual Behaviours.
While cinema portrays the ‘villain soul’ or the ‘kind soul’ as the only two directions to trauma, reality gets varied when real life is taken into account. Sexual abuse during childhood often disassociates the children into becoming what the harasser has been to them or it makes the kid push away anyone appearing as the offender to them.
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), as defined by World Health Organisation (WHO), is any attempt to lure a minor to gain sexual pleasures where the child is not fully developed to comprehend the situation or give consent to it. One of the responses to the trauma is exhibiting age-inappropriate sexual attitudes and behaviours, which is termed as Traumatic Sexualisation.
Research conducted in 2009 in 22 countries concluded that an estimated 7.9% of males and 19.7% of females universally faced sexual abuse before the age of eighteen years. United Nations International Children Education Fund study during 2005-2013 estimated that CSA (Child Sexual Abuse) in Indian girls was 42%.
Four Traumagenic Dynamics in the Impact of Sexual Abuse:
Traumatic Sexualisation: It is a process where sexual feelings and attitudes get shaped in a developmentally inappropriate and interpersonally dysfunctional fashion as response to incomprehensible sexual violence.
Betrayal: It refers to the dynamic by which the trust of children gets broken as they discover that the person whom they trusted or held affection for only caused them harm for their gains.
Powerlessness: Also called as disempowerment, the dynamic explains itself as
the process in which the child’s will, desires, and sense of efficacy are constantly overridden.
Stigmatisation: It refers to the negative connotations (e.g., shame, and guilt) that are communicated to the child around the abusive experiences and that then become incorporated into the child’s self-image.
The model of the four traumagenic dynamics can be used to develop assessment tools and analyse the impacts of abuse.
What behaviours can be considered as problematic?
Traumatic sexualisation can or cannot shape a child victim of sexual abuse to exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviour. Sexual inclinations that are not valid for the age in child victims are referred to as childhood problem sexual behaviour.
There are three ways that deems the behaviour as problematic:
1. If the behaviour puts the child at risk, interferes with their development and
relationships, violates accepted rules, is self-abusive and/or is defined by the child as
a problem,
2. If the behaviour causes others to feel uncomfortable, occurs at the wrong time or
place, conflicts with family or community values, and is abusive; and
3. If the behaviour involves coercion and unequal power.
What causes age-inappropriate behaviour in children?
It may be caused by, when:
- a child is repeatedly used for sexual behaviour inappropriate to his or her level
of development;
- sexual behaviour is conducted in exchange for affection, attention, privileges
and gifts. The child learns to use age-inappropriate behaviour to manipulate others in order to
satisfy developmentally appropriate needs;
- parts of the child’s body are given distorted importance and meaning;
- sexual behaviour and morality are confused by the offender; and
- very frightening memories and events become associated in the child’s mind
with sexual activity.
What are the factors that may or may not decide the depth of post-abuse experience?
The extent to which the child experiences traumatic sexualisation in response to sexual
abuse depends on a number of factors:
- if the offender evokes a sexual response from the child, the trauma is often more
intense;
- if the child is enticed to participate, the trauma is usually greater than if the offender
uses brute force; and
- the degree of the child’s understanding estimates the extent of the trauma
experienced.
How can the violence in the past be assessed and treated?
Assessing Traumatic Sexuality
Traumatic sexuality can be measured by a unique set of sexual patterns that refer to the distortions of the survivor’s physical, cognitive, and emotional approach toward sex due to the sexual trauma. Six major factors of traumatic sexuality have been documented:
- dissociation during sex
- intrusiveness during sex
- shame and guilt regarding sexual aspects
- pleasing the other during sex
- interpersonal distress
- hypervigilance during sex
Treatment
Medical Intervention:
Medicines like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), that are commonly used to treat depression, anxiety and PTSD, may be recommended to manage trauma. These drugs help to increase the brain’s level of serotonin, a hormone that impacts mood, sleep, and appetite.
Therapy:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT, also called as psychotherapy, is a type of talk therapy in which the individuals ubject navigate and understand their emotions and behaviours succeding the sexual assault, thereby accepting and developing positive behaviours to manage them.
Group Therapy
Communicating vulnerabilities with others who have been through similar experiences can make the survivors feel truly seen and heard. Hearing each other’s ways to cope with the odds can help them adapt to their different problems.
Psychodynamic Therapy
It helps the survivors in tackling the emotional conflicts that result from sexual abuse trauma, making them build a strong foundation of their self-esteem.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
It is an evidence-based, 8-phase psychotherapy designed to treat PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), anxiety, and trauma by processing distressing memories through bilateral stimulation (e.g., guided eye movements, taps). It reduces the emotional intensity of traumatic memories, allowing patients to replace negative self-beliefs with positive ones.
While suffering abuse it feels that there is no end to it, acknowledging and healing its scars is definitely under one’s control. What the body may exhibit during the abusive experience is never one’s fault, but healing one’s sources of damage can prevent further harm. Often, one’s wounds are valid but when it begins to hurt the other, it becomes a problem for both.
Seeking professional help and trying to become the hand in someone’s moments of need can be a great step towards healing the scattered self.
https://www.celcis.org/application/files/8116/2185/5415/The_Traumatic_Impact_of_Child_Sexual_Abuse.pdf
https://thriveworks.com/help-with/trauma/sexual-trauma
https://www.verywellmind.com/sexual-trauma-causes-symptoms-consequences-and-treatments-5217579
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106195
https://media.lawlibrary.org.za/media/generic_document/5352/source_file/Guide_to_Sexualised_Behaviour_in_Child_Sexual_Abuse_Victims.pdf
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8445113/
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