Experts Available to Discuss the Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children
The unfolding news involving allegations at Penn State University underscores the fact that child sexual abuse affects all segments of society and is one of the most underreported crimes in the country. Dr. Martin Finkel and Dr. Esther Deblinger, co-directors and co-founders of the CARES (Child Abuse, Research and Education Services) Institute at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine, are available to discuss child sexual abuse, the myth of “stranger danger” and what parents and caregivers can do to help protect children from becoming victims of this crime.
“All children are vulnerable,” Finkel said. “About one in five will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18, and about 40 percent of these cases involve child victims who are younger than six years old. However, most children who are sexually abused do not experience assault. Because most perpetrators desire to repeat the activities over time, they don’t intend to physically injure their victims.”
“Focusing on ‘stranger danger’ obscures the fact that 85 percent of the child sexual abuse is perpetrated by relatives, or by individuals who are known - but not related - to the child,” Deblinger added. “It’s important to teach children, beginning at age three, about personal space and privacy – okay and not-okay touching – and continue these discussions throughout adolescence. While educating children is not the only step we need to take to stop sexual abuse, it does encourage some children to disclose abuse despite the threats and fears that often keep children suffering in silence.”
Children also need to know that they can tell an adult about what has happened. “It takes an incredible amount of courage for a child to come forward,” Finkel said. “Abusers rely on trust and secrecy, but what the child has to say is the best and most available evidence in child sexual abuse cases.”
Martin A. Finkel, DO, FAAP, is a pioneer in the medical evaluation and treatment of child sexual abuse. He is the author of the first scientific paper published in the medical literature on the healing and interpretation of acute genital or anal trauma. He has led the way in the use of videocolposcopy equipment for the assessment and documentation of injuries residual to sexual abuse. He has lectured extensively throughout the world and is the author of numerous articles, book chapters and a textbook on the medical evaluation of the sexually abused child.
Until the early 1970’s child sexual abuse was thought to be rare, and centered among the poor. Experts now agree that child sexual abuse has always occurred and still exists in all socio-economic groups. Increased public awareness has led to greater reporting; from 1970 to 1990, child sexual abuse reports increased more than other categories of neglect or abuse. Despite this gain, child sexual abuse still remains vastly under-reported.
Children and adolescents who have been sexually victimized are at increased risk for HIV infection, unplanned pregnancy and other negative outcomes. Unfortunately, the personal skills needed to prevent sexually-transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy are exactly those eradicated by sexual abuse. People who work with youth must be aware of the possible connection; sexual abuse prevention must be a component
Esther Deblinger, PhD, is an internationally-recognized expert in trauma therapies for children. Working with colleagues at CARES and other institutions, she has developed trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), a scientifically-supported treatment approach for children who have experienced sexual abuse, violence or disasters. TF-CBT has been employed successfully by mental health professionals working with children throughout the United States and in several countries around the world.
Journalists wishing to interview Martin Finkel, DO, or Esther Deblinger, PhD, should contact Jerry Carey, UMDNJ News Service, at (856) 566-6171.
The CARES Institute provides an array of medical and mental health services developed to meet the diagnostic and therapeutic needs of children through an individualized plan for the specific circumstances of each child and family. The CARES Institute is a nationally recognized model of excellence in healing children and families who have experienced abuse, neglect and violence.
What Is Child Sexual Abuse?
At the extreme end of the spectrum, sexual abuse includes sexual intercourse or its deviations. Yet all offences that involve sexually touching a child, as well as non-touching offenses and sexual exploitation, are just as harmful and devastating to a child’s well-being.
Touching sexual offenses include:
- Fondling;
- Making a child touch an adult’s sexual organs; and
- Penetrating a child’s vagina or anus no matter how slight with a penis or any object that doesn’t have a valid medical purpose.
Non-touching sexual offenses include:
- Engaging in indecent exposure or exhibitionism;
- Exposing children to pornographic material;
- Deliberately exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse; and
- Masturbating in front of a child.
Sexual exploitation can include:
- Engaging a child or soliciting a child for the purposes of prostitution; and
- Using a child to film, photograph or model pornography.
These definitions are broad. In most states, the legal definition of child molestation is an act of a person—adult or child—who forces, coerces or threatens a child to have any form of sexual contact or to engage in any type of sexual activity at the perpetrator’s direction.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 6,000 students on five campuses attending the state’s three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and New Jersey’s only school of public health. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, which provides a continuum of healthcare services with multiple locations throughout the state.
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Source: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)