Norberto Abdala
07/26/2021 6:00
Clarín.com
Live
Updated 07/26/2021 6:00 AM
Question: Doctor, I have a suspicion that my 10-year-old niece is being abused. I spoke with my sister and she was offended that I hinted that I could be her new partner. What consequences can it have on the baby?
YFG, Lomas de Zamora
Child abuse implies
using a minor as an object of sexual satisfaction by an adult
in a frank asymmetric relationship and with the existence of coercion, whether implicit or explicit.
Although the statistics are not reliable because the fact is not always known or reported,
experts estimate that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are abused in childhood.
In general, in girls it is common for abuse to occur by members of the direct family or close relatives and in boys it occurs outside the family space.
World awareness poster against child abuse, in all its forms.
/ Clarín Archive
The difference between abuse and sexual assault is that seduction, insistence or deception predominate in the former and violence in the latter.
Abused children tend to hide the situation
and there are many relatives who, if they find out, deny the fact or do not believe the child for various reasons.
A frequent example is to defend the partner or family member denounced by the child
with the consequence that the abused minor does not speak more about the subject, which causes the additional damage of not feeling protected by those who should.
The reasons why abuse tends to remain hidden are for three reasons:
1)
The victim very often feels guilt, fear or shame.
2)
The abuser almost always presents the image of a harmless,
responsible or trustworthy person (a religious, a teacher or a professional).
3)
The denying attitude of responsible adults
to believe, detect changes in children and assume the situation with realism.
Protest of parents of abused children.
/ Clarín Archive
What are the consequences
Victims of abuse suffer consequences that are serious and devastating for their normal psychic and emotional development and,
even more so, if the perpetrator is a member of the family
and the abusive act reaches penetration.
Harmful effects may occur sooner or later.
In the short term, it is common to observe changes in behavior, mood
, sudden and persistent decrease in school performance, aggressiveness, insomnia, nightmares, eating disorders, tendency to introversion.
The long-term effects can be very varied:
disorders in the development of the personality
, severe sexual disturbances, addictive or anti-social behaviors and even the appearance of intense psychotic or depressive conditions that can lead to suicide.
Today it is known that alterations also occur in the normal development of various brain regions (hippocampus, corpus callosum, amygdala), since
the trauma of abuse occurs in parallel to the stages of the normal evolutionary process
of the nervous system and the neurohormonal system, thus permanently leaving sequelae that will affect adults with various psychiatric conditions in adulthood.
In conclusion, the consequences on the recent or future development of the psychic, affective, sexual and social life of the abused are always serious and disturbing.
And, incidentally, it is
convenient to discard the myth that the abuser is an ignorant person, delinquent, alcoholic or of low social class since it also exists in "good families".
EM
Look also
Nine Tips for Parents with Teenagers
“Self-exploitation”: what it is and why it causes physical and emotional harm
Attention parents: the dangers of adolescent isolation
