Definition of Child Sexual Abuse

There is no uniform definition pertaining to child sexual abuse. But the characteristic feature of child sexual abuse is the dominant position of an adult that allows him or her to force or coerce a child into sexual activity.

Child sexual abuse may include fondling or playing with the genitals of a child, anal intercourse, oral-genital contact, vaginal penetration, masturbation, digital penetration and touching of private parts (including breasts).

Child sexual abuse does not only mean physical contact. It involves abuse in the form of non-contact that involves exposure, voyeurism and child pornography. It includes abuse by Peers too.

There are incidents when your own family member could be involved in this issue. Before the situations turns murkier transforming your family including personal life in to a nightmare, tackle this entire issue with deftness and firmness, accompanied with patience and composure of mind. Avoid taking abrupt decisions. Remember that this is a social issue of prime importance. Never shove such incidents under the carpet-even though it may involve your own kith and kin.

Steps in dealing with the issue of Child Sexual Abuse by a Family Member

• Accept the fact that your child has been sexually abused.
• Face the reality
• To take charge of the situation.
• Discuss this topic with your family members who support the abuse of your child.
• Be calm and composed in your approach while dealing with the issue.
• Trash out the outstanding issue pertaining to sexual abuse with the concerned member of the family involved.
• Adopt a balanced and pragmatic approach pertaining to the issue of child sexual abuse.
• Sternly warn the concerned person in the family regarding the grave consequences incase if further sexual abuse of the child continues, by keeping a tab on the activities family member.
• Discuss this issue with your family physician and counselor.
• Counsel the concerned person (abuser) involved in child sexual abuse.
• Analyze the mindset of the abuser and the reason for committing such a heinous crime on the child.
• Provide ample support and counsel the child.
• Shower abundant love and repose confidence on your child. Lend your ears to her grievances.
• Never leave your child alone or let him/her feel lonely.
• Give ample time to the child to overcome the trauma. 
• Take preventive measures to see that such an incident does not re-occur again.
• Report abuse to your local child protection service agency and ask about crisis support help.

It can be hard for adults if the abuser is close to them. Still, the abuse should be reported to your local child protection agency or family-physician. It is the best method to deal with the issue of child-abuse within your own family.

Dr Sameer

Sex sells fast and it is no more a secret. Across the globe porn CDs and DVDs flood the open and grey markets depending on whether viewing pornography is legal or illegal in a country.
 
The Internet is flooded with porn sites like never before.  Consider some of the following facts from last year’s surveys and the numbers are definitely on the rise with recession keeping more people tense and looking for a vent.

• Sex is the most searched word in the Internet
• 266 new porn sites appear on the Net everyday
• 70% of Internet porn traffic happens during the 9-5 workdays
• There are an estimated 372 million web pages of adult sex viewing pages
• 35% of all Internet downloads are porn stuff

Many studies are conducted on the connection between porn and crime. There are those who contend that viewing Internet porn has reduced sexual crimes in developed countries. The US dept of Justice statistics confirm that sexual assault has dramatically fallen in the US since the beginning of the 1970s. Northwestern Law Professor Antony D’Amato’s essay “Porn Up, Rape Down” cited FBI stats of 85% decline in rape since 1970 and attributed it to freely available pornographic material in the country. (The essay was however, slammed by the likes of Dr. Judith Reisman, President of the Institute of Media Education, on the grounds that the FBI stats were the result of “cooking the books” and cover-ups to show a lower crime rate!)
 
Concurrently there are people who observe that in developing countries porn viewing affects a segment of the population that is uneducated and sexually frustrated.  It fast tracks them on to a sexual crime spree targeting the most vulnerable—women and children. There is also a danger of Internet pornography abetting sex at its worst—incest, sadism and bestiality.

For further reading in Medindia:

Sexual Deviance

Mumbai’s Kranti Maidan saw a gathering of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists on August 16, 2008 for a “queer” rights march—the first of its kind to be held in Mumbai. According to media reports, what made this march special was the good number of “straight” supporters who joined in to show their solidarity for the socially ostracized people, in their struggle for acceptance into mainstream society. Apart from some members of the general public, friends and family members of the gay and transgender community and human rights activists like Flavia Agnes and Anand Patwardhan, there was a contingent from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences that marched as an official group with its faculty’s permission. The hopes of those activists who participated in the Queer Azadi March must have soared when the Union Health Minister Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss recently observed that homosexuality would have to be de-criminalized in India in order to facilitate health interventions especially in preventing the potential killer HIV/AIDS.

Concurrently, according to the Union Home Ministry in India, the law enforcement against same gender sex is upheld in view of the Indian social ethos and moral values. Section 377 of Indian Criminal Code brackets homosexuality with bestiality (sex with animals) and pedophilia as an “unnatural” offence that can punish a person with a jail term of up to 10 years. In 2005 the Union Home Ministry in India dismissed a petition to have the law changed, citing examples of other countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa where homosexuality was considered illegal. While dismissing the petition to repeal the law the Ministry declared,
“Public opinion and the current societal context in India do not favor the deletion of the said offence from the statute book.”

The Central government is currently entangled in the crucial question—to allow or to continue to disallow gay sex. The Delhi High Court last week censured the Central government for speaking in two voices on the issue of same gender sex among consenting adults. The Union Health Ministry has proposed the abolishing of penal provision that can incriminate homosexuals and lesbians, and members of the transgender community because it drives such people underground fearing consequences and hampers health interventions in serious cases like HIV/AIDS. The Health Minister has suggested legalization of homosexuality as a way to help in better treatment of people suffering from AIDS. The Union Home Ministry on the other hand has told the Delhi High Court to ignore Health Minister Ramadoss’ views on allowing the practice and requested the court not to de-criminalize gay sex on moral grounds. Latest news is that Health Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss is piqued by the Union Home Ministry’s observation and is to take up the issue with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh soon after his return from foreign visit. Guess the Indian public will just have to wait and watch what emerges from this tug-of-war between the Union Home Ministry and Health Ministry in India.