Defining Sexual Abuse

The diversity of examples and case histories may lead one to ask, "What is sexual abuse?" There aremany definitions. One, by the Incest Survivors Resource Network.5 They state "the erotic use of a child, whether physically or emotionally, is sexual exploitation in the fullest meaning of the term, even if no bodily contact is ever made." This last point - "no bodily contact" - is crucial. A parent who exposes a child to intercourse or deviant sexual behaviors or pornographic materials is abusing that child. New York State law now clarifies that such sexual abuse is a crime. The law defines a sexually abused child as one whose parent or person legally responsible for the child's care, commits, allows to be committed, permits or encourages a sex offense against the child, including prostitution, incest, obscene sexual performance or sexual conduct.Sexual abuse in the extreme includes ritual and cult abuse. Ritual abuse involves a specific rite or form in which the abuse is encapsulated. Cult abuse embraces a "religious" or spiritual belief system, usually Satanic. Cults may consist of individual "dabblers" or small, isolated groups. They may also include generations within families or whole segments of communities. They operate by destroying all bonding for their victims, and surrounding the child with total unpredictability or powerlessness. Drugs or trickery may be employed...sometimes even murder.

Defining Incest

Incest was traditionally defined as sex between close relatives. But incest is, above all, sexual abuse; sexual abuse by the very person(s) entrusted with the child's care. Incest is "any use of a minor child to meet the sexual or sexual/emotional needs of one or more persons whose authority is derived through ongoing emotional bonding with that child."6Incest is especially common in alcoholic families, where judgment and boundaries are impaired. If the perpetrator always commits the act while under the influence of alcohol or some other substance, (s)he may have no memory of the events. Victims also may or may not remember. The trauma may be so severe that part or all of the abuse is blocked from conscious memory. This may continue for many years until something triggers a "flashback," although the effects of the abuse, emotionally or behaviorally, continue all along. The protective role of such blocking must be explained to patients who may, in fact, experience increasing flashbacks as treatment continues. For the reasons mentioned above, it is not uncommon for someone suffering from sexual abuse to turn to drugs or alcohol as a vehicle to deal with their pain and shame. Drug addiction and alcoholism is what they believe to be a way out. Unfortunately, it usually results in a dual diagnosis to treat of drug addiction, alcoholism and post traumatic stress disorder, depression etc. Dual diagnosis is a very complex disorder to treat, but dual diagnosis is treatable and people do recover.

If you are looking for a drug rehab or alcohol rehab that effectively treats sexual abuse go to www.lakeviewhealth.com or call the national addiction treatment lehpline at 1-800-511-9225