Main
Personal
Sexual Abuse
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Sexual Abuse
Name URL
http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/child_sexual_abuse
Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult. The problem should be identified, the abuse stopped, and the child should receive professional help. The long-term emotional and psychological damage of sexual abuse can be devastating to the child.