Child Sexual Abuse: Good Touch and Bad Touch
In present situation, we hear a lot about child sexual abuse, sexual harassment and molestation. It’s high time, we started talking or discussing about it to prevent our society from its effects. We should start teaching about sex and sexual health at the very young age to our kids. So, today through this article, we will be discussing a little more about child abuse and child sexual abuse.
Child Abuse
It is any behavior that harms the child. Child sexual abuse can occur in a variety of settings like physical, sexual, and psychological abuse as well as neglection and exploitation. It can occur in home, schools or in any organizations or the communities child interacts with and especially where child labor is common.
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which adult or adolescents abuse child for sexual stimulation. Sexual abuse alludes to the interest of a youngster in a sexual demonstration pointed towards the physical delight or the money related benefit of the individual submitting the act.
Forms of Child Sexual Abuse incorporate asking or forcing a kid to take part in sexual exercises, disgusting introduction of the private parts to a kid, showing sex entertainment to a kid, real sexual contact with a kid, physical contact with the kid’s private parts, review of the kid’s genitalia without physical contact, or utilizing a kid to deliver kid pornography.
Sexual exploitation of children is not a new phenomenon. In fact, in many societies in the past, it was not only accepted, but even encouraged. Our misfortune, children were taken as gifts to be used and sexually abused.
Every single day, the media report such cases where young children, both boys and girls, are sexually abused by an adult around them. The problem is, they do not even know what is happening. Abusers often threaten the child with dire consequences for disclosing the sexual exploitation. But a child will talk freely only when s/he feels safe. If a child says that s/he has been molested, parents should try to remain calm and reassure them that what happened was not their fault.
It’s high time; we started teaching young children about “Good Touch and Bad Touch” to make children smart and safe . Most of the time, targets are very young children, below 6–7 years of age. They are too young to understand the difference between right and wrong.
Some Myths About Child Sexual Abuse
People often say that child sexual abuse occurs only among strangers. That might be partially true but these days we have been reading the news regarding child sexual abuse within the families.
It is believed that child sexual abuse victims tell about the abuse. Actually, the child victims are too small to decide either it is good or bad. That’s why parents should ask them, notice about their changes in behavior.
Are the victims mostly female? Well, its just the myth that only men abuse the children. And, the victims are not only female, sometimes males are also the victims.
Child sexual abuse is said to happen only in low income family. While supporting this idea, we should not forget that children cannot always express their feelings. These abuse might happen to anyone and anywhere. Thus, we all need to be aware about it.
Good Touch and Bad Touch
It is still a sensitive topic for parents to talk to their children, so most of them do not want to talk about it. The same goes for schools as well. At times, we hesitate to take up and speak on sensitive topics. But the reality remains that it is significant for the improvement of our small kids that they know about this and can manage it if they ever face a circumstance like this. The goal is to make children familiar about good touch and bad touch.
Good touch is also known as safe touch which makes you feel warm, comfortable and safe inside. It is ok when people hold your hands but you may not like when people touch your head, face, neck and shoulders, stomach, thighs and legs. But if someone touches you in your mouth, chest and buttocks and parts between the legs are a bad touch which is also known as an unsafe touch.
These parts of body can only be touched by yourself or by your mother or father or doctors to examine you in the presence of your parents. Bad touch makes you feel uncomfortable, unsafe and gives you bad feelings inside like feeling sad, ashamed or frightened.
What We Should Teach Our Children?
It is not okay to touch anyone’s private parts or let anyone touch your private parts. It is not okay if someone asks you to touch his or her private parts or if someone lets touch his or her private parts in front of you. It is not okay if someone shows you photos and videos of people without clothes on or if someone asks you to take off your clothes and takes photos or videos.
When felt unsafe: shout “NO” loudly and run away from that person and go to a safe place like your house, classroom. Never agree to keep bad touches a secret. Tell someone from your safe circle (parents, grandparents or teachers) and keep on telling until you get help with the problem.
—Light of Heart
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