The abuse can take the form of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. There are many different ways that people define words. In working with clients, I have often found that there is not enough clarity about when it is sexual abuse.

Definition

Here is a definition that might help to understand and clarify the experiences: Sexual abuse is taking advantage of a child or adolescent through any act designed to sexually stimulate another person or using them to sexually stimulate another person.

The definitions depend on the person using them. If you ask a legal person, such as judges and lawyers, they use definitions that talk about ‘title’. Therapists, psychologists, and others who work in the mental health community will talk about ‘betrayal’ and ‘boundary breaching’.

What can happen?

The following is not a complete list of what sexual abuse can be, but it nonetheless paints a picture:

• Talking about sex that makes the child or adolescent nervous
• Talking to the child or adolescent about their body or other personal things in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable
• Touching a child or adolescent in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable
• Find ways to see the child or adolescent naked or partially naked, for example, by entering their room or bathroom.
• Someone exposing themselves to a child or adolescent
• Making a child or adolescent look at sexual images or have them pose for such images
• Making a child or adolescent touch the other person’s private parts (vagina, breasts, penis, buttocks)
• Touching the private parts of a child or adolescent (vagina, breasts, penis, buttocks) for sexual stimulation or pleasure
• Penetrating the child’s or adolescent’s vagina or anus with fingers, penis, or other objects

members of the same family

Incest is sexual abuse that occurs between members of the same family, such as a mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, or cousin. It can also be someone who has that caretaker role in your family, for example, a step-parent, foster parent, guardian, father-in-law, mom’s boyfriend, dad’s girlfriend, basically anyone who becomes a member. of the family by marriage, law or circumstance.

It is important to note that the law defines incest as a sexual relationship between people who are related by blood.

The bottom line, whatever the definition, is that abuse is illegal and causes a lot of pain for the whole family and needs to be addressed.