Child sexual abuse Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == In society == {{Globalize|section|USA|2name=the United States|date=October 2015}} Child sexual abuse became a public issue in the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to this point in time, sexual abuse remained rather secretive and socially unspeakable.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} Studies on child molestation were nonexistent until the 1920s and the first national estimate of the number of child sexual abuse cases was published in 1948. By 1968 44 out of 50 U.S. states had enacted mandatory laws that required physicians to report cases of suspicious child abuse. Legal action began to become more prevalent in the 1970s with the enactment of the [[Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act]] in 1974 in conjunction with the creation of the National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect. Since the creation of the Child Abuse and Treatment Act, reported child abuse cases have increased dramatically. Finally, the [[National Abuse Coalition]] was created in 1979 to create pressure in congress to create more sexual abuse laws.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} [[Second wave feminism]] brought greater awareness of child sexual abuse and [[violence against women]], and made them public, political issues.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obHkvCPnos0C&pg=PA2|title=New Feminist Stories of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Scripts and Dangerous Dialogues|first1=Paula|last1=Reavey|first2=Sam|last2=Warner|date=June 29, 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-25944-6|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_k8Aptn6tEC&pg=PA215|title=Social Work Treatment: Interlocking Theoretical Approaches|first=Francis J.|last=Turner|date=March 15, 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983196-8|via=Google Books}}</ref> [[Judith Lewis Herman]], Harvard professor of psychiatry, wrote the first book ever on father-daughter incest when she discovered during her medical residency that a large number of the women she was seeing had been victims of father-daughter incest. Herman notes that her approach to her clinical experience grew out of her involvement in the civil rights movement.<ref name="UCB">{{cite web |url=http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Herman/herman-con0.html |title=Conversation with History; Dr. Judith Lewis Herman |work=Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies |publisher=UC Berkeley |access-date=December 22, 2007 |archive-date=December 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225063149/http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Herman/herman-con0.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her second book ''Trauma and Recovery'' coined the term [[complex post-traumatic stress disorder]] and included child sexual abuse as a cause.<ref name = Herman1997>{{Cite book| title = Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror | url = https://archive.org/details/traumarecovery00herm_0 | first = JL | last = Herman | year = 1997 | publisher = Basic Books | pages = [https://archive.org/details/traumarecovery00herm_0/page/119 119]–121| isbn = 978-0-465-08730-3 }}</ref> In 1986, Congress passed the [[Child Abuse Victims' Rights Act]], giving children a civil claim in sexual abuse cases. The number of laws created in the 1980s and 1990s began to create greater prosecution and detection of child sexual abusers. During the 1970s a large transition began in the legislature related to child sexual abuse. [[Megan's Law]] which was enacted in 1996 gives the public access to knowledge of sex offenders nationwide.<ref name=wright>{{cite book|last1=Wright|first1=Ph.D Richard G.|title=Sex offender laws: failed policies, new directions|date=2014|publisher=Springer Publishing Co Inc|isbn=978-0-8261-9671-2|pages=50–65|edition=Second|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ms75AwAAQBAJ}}</ref> Anne Hastings described these changes in attitudes towards child sexual abuse as "the beginning of one of history's largest social revolutions."<ref>''From Generation to Generation: Understanding Sexual Attraction to Children'', p.15</ref> According to John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor B.J. Cling: {{blockquote|By the early 21st century, the issue of child sexual abuse has become a legitimate focus of professional attention, while increasingly separated from second wave feminism ... As child sexual abuse becomes absorbed into the larger field of interpersonal trauma studies, child sexual abuse studies and intervention strategies have become degendered and largely unaware of their political origins in modern feminism and other vibrant political movements of the 1970s. One may hope that unlike in the past, this rediscovery of child sexual abuse that began in the 70s will not again be followed by collective amnesia. The institutionalization of child maltreatment interventions in federally funded centers, national and international societies, and a host of research studies (in which the United States continues to lead the world) offers grounds for cautious optimism. Nevertheless, as Judith Herman argues cogently, 'The systematic study of psychological trauma ... depends on the support of a political movement.'<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sexualized Violence Against Women and Children: A Psychology and Law Perspective|url=https://archive.org/details/sexualizedviolen00jdbj|author=B.J. Cling|page=[https://archive.org/details/sexualizedviolen00jdbj/page/n191 177]|year=2004|publisher=Guilford Press|isbn=978-1-59385-061-6}}</ref> }} === Media reporting and its quality === Media reporting plays a crucial role in tackling the word-wide problem of child sexual abuse because it puts the issue on the public and political agenda.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ischebeck |first1=Josephine |title=Child sexual abuse and the media |last2=Stelzmann |first2=Daniela |date=2022 |publisher=[[Nomos publishing house|Nomos]] |isbn=978-3-8487-6332-0 |edition=1st |location=Baden-Baden |oclc=1335407537}}</ref> Media reporting can even contribute to the exposure and criminal investigation of sexual abuse cases in institutions. One notorious example is the ''[[The Boston Globe|Boston Globe]]'' coverage of the [[Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal|sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston]] for which the newspaper received a [[Pulitzer Prize for Public Service]] in 2003. Another award-winning example is the ''[[The Indianapolis Star|Indianapolis Star]]'' coverage of the [[USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal]] in 2016. Media reporting can be very beneficial by giving survivors a voice and informing the public.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Media reporting can also violate the rights of abuse survivors and disseminate misleading and harmful messages. Content analyses of news reporting have revealed several quality issues such as a focus on sensationalized individual cases (so-called episodic framing) and neglect of thematic framing in the sense of contextualizing individual cases and pointing to the systematic problems that enable child sexual abuse.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weatherred |first=Jane Long |date=2015 |title=Child sexual abuse and the media: A literature review |journal=Journal of Child Sexual Abuse |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=16–34 |doi=10.1080/10538712.2015.976302 |issn=1053-8712 |pmid=25635896|s2cid=38230484 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Popović |first=Stjepka |date=2018 |title=Child sexual abuse news: A systematic review of content analysis studies |journal=Journal of Child Sexual Abuse |volume=27 |issue=7 |pages=752–777 |doi=10.1080/10538712.2018.1486935 |issn=1053-8712 |pmid=30040599|s2cid=51716256 }}</ref> When media reporting on child sexual abuse is investigated, usual methodological approaches are the media [[content analysis]] and the media quality analysis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Döring |first1=Nicola |last2=Walter |first2=Roberto |date=2020 |title=Media coverage of child sexual abuse: A framework of issue-specific quality criteria |journal=Journal of Child Sexual Abuse |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=393–412 |doi=10.1080/10538712.2019.1675841 |issn=1053-8712 |pmid=31697189|s2cid=207938189 }}</ref> Here it is important to not only analyze text but also documentary and stock photos commonly used in media that report about child sexual abuse. Research shows that myths and stereotypes about child sexual abuse are disseminated through text and images alike.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Döring |first=Nicola |title=Child Sexual Abuse and the Media |publisher=[[Nomos publishing house|Nomos]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-3-8487-6332-0 |editor-last=Stelzmann |editor-first=Daniela |edition=1st |pages=31–57 |chapter=Quality issues in media representations of child sexual abuse: Newspaper articles, stock photos, and YouTube videos |editor-last2=Ischebeck |editor-first2=Josephine}}</ref> Several checklists and guidelines for journalist have been published by violence prevention and journalism organizations to help improve the quality of news reporting on child sexual abuse.<ref>{{Cite web |last=INHOPE |title=Media guidelines for reporting on child sexual abuse |url=https://inhope.org/EN/articles/media-guidelines-for-reporting-on-child-sexual-abuse?locale=en |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=inhope.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Utah Department of Human Services |date=2022 |title=A journalist's guide to reporting on child abuse & neglect |url=https://dcfs.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/March-2022-Journalists-Guide.pdf |access-date=2022-07-15 |archive-date=2022-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715095411/https://dcfs.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/March-2022-Journalists-Guide.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===Civil lawsuits=== In the United States, growing awareness of child sexual abuse has sparked an increasing number of civil [[lawsuits]] for [[monetary damages]] stemming from such incidents. Increased awareness of child sexual abuse has encouraged more victims to come forward, whereas in the past victims often kept their abuse secret. Some states have enacted specific [[laws]] lengthening the applicable [[statutes of limitations]] so as to allow victims of child sexual abuse to file suit sometimes years after they have reached the age of majority.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/state-civil-statutes-of-limitations-in-child-sexua.aspx|title=State Civil Statutes of Limitations in Child Sexual Abuse Cases|last=Legislatures|first=National Conference of State|website=www.ncsl.org|access-date=2017-10-18}}</ref> Such lawsuits can be brought where a person or entity, such as a school, church or youth organization, or daycare was charged with supervising the child but failed to do so with child sexual abuse resulting, making the individual or institution liable. In the [[Catholic sex abuse cases]], the various [[Roman Catholic]] Diocese in the [[United States]] have paid out approximately $1 billion settling hundreds of such lawsuits since the early 1990s. There have also been lawsuits involving the [[American religious right]]. Crimes have allegedly gone unreported and victims were pressured into silence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/25/1211671/-The-Church-Child-Sex-Abuse-Scandal-Widens-and-Deepens|title=The Church Child Sex Abuse Scandal Widens and Deepens|work=dailykos.com|access-date=23 March 2015}}</ref> As lawsuits can involve demanding procedures, there is a concern that [[children]] or adults who file suit will be re-victimized by defendants through the [[legal process]], much as [[rape]] victims can be re-victimized by the accused in [[criminal]] rape trials. The child sexual abuse plaintiff's attorney [[Thomas A. Cifarelli]] has written that children involved in the legal system, particularly victims of sexual abuse and molestation, should be afforded certain procedural safeguards to protect them from harassment during the legal process.<ref>Cifarelli, T.A.,''Shielding Minors'', Los Angeles Daily Journal, (October 10, 2001).</ref> In June 2008 in [[Zambia]], the issue of teacher-student sexual abuse and sexual assault was brought to the attention of the High Court of Zambia where a landmark case decision, with presiding Judge Philip Musonda, awarded $45 million Zambian kwacha (US$13,000) to the plaintiff, a 13-year-old girl for sexual abuse and rape by her school teacher. This claim was brought against her teacher as a "person of authority" who, as Judge Musonda stated, "had a moral superiority (responsibility) over his students" at the time.<ref>[http://womennewsnetwork.net/2008/08/11/rapecasezambia-articl804/ "When A Girl Student Stands Up and Wins"], ''Women News Network'' – WNN, August 11, 2008</ref> A 2000 World Health Organization – Geneva report, "World Report on Violence and Health (Chap 6 – Sexual Violence)" states, "Action in schools is vital for reducing sexual and other forms of violence. In many countries a sexual relation between a teacher and a pupil is not a serious disciplinary offence and policies on sexual harassment in schools either do not exist or are not implemented. In recent years, though, some countries have introduced laws prohibiting sexual relations between teachers and pupils. Such measures are important in helping eradicate sexual harassment in schools. At the same time, a wider range of actions is also needed, including changes to teacher training and recruitment and reforms of curricula, so as to transform gender relations in schools."<ref>[http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2002/9241545615_chap6_eng.pdf World Health Organization Report on Sexual Violence], 2002</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page