A catalogue of problems is common to children that were sexually abused. The problems are such that they could cripple a child emotionally for life if professional help is not sought when the case was reported. The list of problems is enough reason for parents to do all within their reach and means to protect their children.
The following are the problems:
- Self-blame. The child blames him/herself for not being watchful enough to avoid the child molester.
- Shame leading to withdrawal from friends. A child that feels violated loses his/her self confidence and tends to keep away from others.
- Guilt. An inordinate sense of guilt can overwhelm a child when the child abuser is made to face the wrath of the law over his/her actions. The guilt in the victim could be very strong in intrafamilial cases which led to family break up.
- Depression. The trauma of the event can lead to depression unless adequate professional care was made available to the victim.
- Low self-esteem-Victims feel a sense of worthlessness or devaluation. They come to think that their bodies are dirty or damaged. Some fear something is wrong with them in the genital area.
- Impaired socialization. Victims could become afraid of interacting with persons in other to avoid repeat molestation. They may find it difficult to trust others.
- Sexual behaviour problems-This is because minors do not know how to handle sexual over stimulation. They can become overly interested in sex to the extent of becoming sexually promiscuous.
- Anxiety Disorder and sleep problems resulting from nightmares.
- Disruptive behaviour disorders-They could become sexual abusers themselves just to get even with society that betrayed them.
- Decreased concentration due to re-experiencing symptoms. This can occur if the victim was not given appropriate professional care to enable him/her process the event and recover from it. Sexual molestation always leaves a deep wound in the mind of the victims.
- Poor school performances or refusal to go to school. When a school is the venue of the assault, the fear of going to school could torment the victim because he/she does not want a repeat attack. Such a child would need a lot of reassurance. Shame could also make the victim not want to return to the school where his/her story is known. The victim may need to change school.
- Poor occupational achievement due to poor concentration in the work place. This occurs when the child did not disclose the incident and so could not get the needed care.
- Aggression. There had been incidents of children who shot and killed their dad for sexually molesting them. The hurt could be so deep as to make the victim seek revenge. The aggression may be directed at innocent persons at times.
- Early sexualization or unusual preoccupation with sex. Some victims who lost respect for their bodies as a result of sexual molestation have gone in to prostitution.
- They could attempt suicide out of despondency if they did not get adequate professional help.
- Some will have difficulty relating with others on sexual terms and this problem could be carried over in to marriage.
- Some teenage pregnancy and child birth out of wedlock had resulted from sexual molestation.
In summary, abused children are at significantly increased risk for suffering a variety of medical, emotional, behavioural, relational and social problems that can affect them throughout their lives. Mental health care can help ameliorate current problem and reduce the risk of development of future ones.
This article was written by Dr Francis Edo Olotu, Physician, Family Counselor, Author, Conference Speaker and host of the Blog Empowering Dads.Email address:empoweringdads@gmail.com. Visit his blog for a rich diversity of articles on family and health issues
