How to Identify if a Child Suffers From Sexual Abuse

Eighty percent of sexual abuse, the abuser is someone the child knows. Watching for warning signs in your own children or children you are frequently able to observe and reporting to the proper authorities may stop the victims abuse from continuing. I have compiled a list of the most common physical, behavioral, and verbal indicates seen in children.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Physical Indicator of sexual abuse the child may:
   * Be pregnant
   * Have a venereal disease
   * Contain blood in urine
   * Swollen or bruised genitals
   * Have presence of puss or blood on genitals
   * Have physical complaints without a physical cause
   * Have torn or stained underclothing
   * Show rectal bleeding

2. Behavior Indicators the child may show:
   * By continuously scratching genitalia
   * Difficulty sitting in chairs or playing on equipment
   * By walking as if pants are wet or chaffing
   * loss of appetite
   * Reports of frequent nightmares
   * Extreme withdraw or aggression
   * Uncomfortable with contact from adults
   * Seductiveness with adults or other children that seems inappropriate
   * Lack of interest in life itself
   * Fantasy behavior
   * Signs of regression
   * Limited joy and excitement for life
   * Promiscuity
   * Need to run away
   * Sudden truancy
   * Signs that they have much more sexual knowledge than other children in or close to their age group
   * A sudden withdraw from friends

3. Verbal Indicators may be:
   * Complaints of pain in the genitalia
   * Reporting incidents of sexual content with other children or adults
   * Having a secret game with an adult or child
   * Expresses fear of being alone with a particular adult or child

Tips & Warnings

• A verbal and or written report of the sexual abuse suspicion to a social agency will have the situation investigated
• Asking the child about your suspicions without leading the child to say what they think you want to hear will help determine if abuse is present.
• The presence of one does sign does not automatically mean abuse is present, however if one or more sign is present, they should be taken as a warning and more attention should be paid.
• More often than not, the offender is a member of the family.

[susanhorton72]

on 10/11/2009 Thanks for the information. It's sad knowing just how common it is.

[leemarcusmusic]

on 9/28/2009 Thanks for the info! 5*

[francisfour]

on 9/28/2009 This article hit home when my psychic advisor told me of my mom's childhood. I could not believe it. Check out my psychic article. It is so hard for children to speak about what is going on around them. They go into a state of shock. This is why I give this article 5 stars. It is important for us to know the signs of abuse.

[mjc1978]

on 9/20/2009 Very Informative..5*