An interview with Dr. Abhijeet Mishra, M.A Psychology (DU) 2007, PHD in Socio-Cultural Psychology…
What is child sexual abuse and how common it is in our society?
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. A child is sexually abused when another person, who is sexually mature, involves the child in other activities which the other person expects to lead to their sexual arousal. This might involve intercourse, touching, exposure of the sexual organs, showing pornographic material or talking about sexual things in an erotic way. The global prevalence of child sexual abuse has been estimated at 19.7% for females and 7.9% for males, according to 2009 study published in clinical psychology review that examined 65 studies from 22 countries. 30% of sexual offenders are relatives of the child and around 60% are friends of family or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases. In India Ministry of women and child development published the “study on child abuse: India 2007”, according to study findings 53.22% of children reported having faced sexual abuse. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Delhi reported the highest percentage of sexual abuse among both boys and girls.
30% of sexual offenders are relatives of the child and around 60% are friends of family or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases.
Is there any difference between a Paedophile and a child molester?
Paedophilia is a mental disorder diagnosed as a recurrent, intense sexual urge or fantasies about sexual activity of an adult with a pre-pubertal child. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) defines it as a paraphilia in which adults or adolescents of 16 years of age or older have intense and recurrent sexual urge towards prepubescent children and fantasies about them they have either acted on or which cause them distress or interpersonal difficulty. A child molester does not have to be a paedophile. Sometimes people do it for other reasons like desire to show sexual dominance, enjoy inflicting pain to the child and they derive sexual pleasure from it and it does not mean they are sexually attracted to the child. A Paedophile can be a child molester but being a paedophile does not mean they are one.
What might be the motive behind committing such horrendous acts on innocent children? Is it the intake of drugs that compels them to commit such a crime or is it an illness?
There are many different kinds of abusers and many reasons behind child molestation. A lot of molesters were themselves molested when they were young and believe that those acts are normal and acceptable in society, even when they come to realize it is wrong to do things like that they have still gone too far and tasted too much to stop themselves. They derive more sexual pleasure by engaging in sexual acts with children rather than with adults because for paedophiles children are sex objects whom they can idealize as capable of giving them unconditional love and also they find children non-threatening towards the crime they are committing. The other common reason behind child molestation is the cyclical nature of abuse, most abusers were abused. Paedophile is a sexual disorder which propels the child molester for engaging in sexual acts with a child. Children make perfect little victims (as one child molester I have spoken to puts it) whereas grown women are loud, violent and know their rights and options. Children are easier to hurt for the rapists and sadist out there, regardless they find children particularly attractive.
How does a Paedophile work to earn the trust, respect and love of the society?
Many paedophiles appear to be shy and introverted. They desire mastery and dominance over another individual, along with a desire for unconditional love. Many paedophiles engage in work with children or youth so that they have extensive access to children. Paedophiles idealize aspects of innocence and simplicity and behave as an ordinary, normal part of the society working according to the desired social norms.
Out of hundreds of children how does the assaulter isolate his victim? Is it a long process or a spontaneous decision?
There is no prototypical victim of child sexual abuse. Any child may be victimized, not surprisingly; predators often target children with obvious vulnerabilities. A child who feels unloved and unpopular will soak up adult attention like a sponge, children with family problems who spend time alone and unsupervised who lack confidence and self-esteem, and who are isolated from their peers are all likely targets. It is a long process. Rather than appearing to be monsters, perpetrators usually try to be very charming and friendly, after gaining widespread trust. Once child molesters have chosen their potential victims; they work hard at patiently developing relationships with them. Since this grooming process can go on for years, although what causes Paedophilia is not yet known.
What would a molester do to win over the trust of his victims?
Most of the child molesters are family members or relatives of the child so there is already some level of trust and affection between the child and molester which makes easy for the molester to lure the child in committing this heinous crime. They may visit places where children are likely to go; schools, shopping malls, play grounds, parks, offer play games, buy treats and gifts as tokens of friendship and they almost always offer a sympathetic understanding to hear them.
During the sexual assault of a child what runs in the mind of the assaulter? Doesn’t it seem to be an inappropriate act to him/her?
Child molesters are more likely than non-offenders to believe that children will benefit from sexual contacts with adults and that child often initiate such contact. So they normally enjoy it and believe that the victim (child) is also in one way enjoying the whole assault. Many abusers feel guilty. However, for pedophiles guilt means very little; it does not prevent them from abusing again, they are obsessed with children and act in addictive ways.
Isn’t there any fear in the minds of a child abuser about the discovery of their heinous acts?
The process called Grooming; it increases the predator’s access to his victim and decreases the likelihood of discovery. Child molester targets the child because they feel that their crime would not be reported and even if the crime is reported the child testimony will not be believed in. Pedophiles are obsessed with children and engage in sexual acts with children in addictive ways, so even if they feel accountable or guilty they tend to repeat their crime because of their obsession with children.
A child was sexually abused when he was small. How would it affect his life?
Childhood sexual abuse may have both short term and long term consequences. The most common consequences are fears, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, sleep disturbances, sexual inappropriateness and poor self-esteem. A wide variety of personality disorders have also been alleged to result from early sexual abuse such as borderline personality disorder, somatization disorder with dissociative symptoms.
How difficult is it for a child to recover from the trauma of child sexual abuse? Will he/she be able to lead a normal stable life?
Traumatic childhood experience like sexual abuse affects a child’s mental functioning even at the later stages of life. Child sexual abuse has a very damaging effect on personality development particularly if it has taken place in the first five years of child’s life because of its distorting effect on the process of psychosexual development. “I observed a group therapy once as a clinician, one who talked about how she was abused as a child, she said when you are abused its like someone takes your power away, as though your power is physical thing, when you don’t have that, you are terrified of the world. And it takes years and years to lead a normal stable life”.
The initial approach to treating a person who has been a victim of sexual abuse is dependent upon several important factors:
- Age at the time of presentation
- Circumstances of presentation for treatment
- Co-morbid conditions
Treatment of sex offenders has not as yet proved highly effective in most cases, although promising research in this area is being conducted. The goal for treatment is not only to treat current mental health issues, but to prevent the future ones. Also to make sure that this childhood trauma gets resolved fully, so that it does not return back in the later stages of child life and does not affect child’s normal functioning.
Studies stated that more than 70% of abusers are immediate family members or someone very close to the family, 60% of the perpetrators are family acquaintances, like a neighbor, babysitter or friend and 10% of the perpetrators in child sexual abuse cases are strangers.
Why it is that most of the times a child is molested by someone he trusts or his family trusts?
The establishment of respect and trust occupies a central role in gaining access to the child. It has been identified that most widespread form of child sexual abuse with a huge capacity for damage to a child is known as Child Incestuous Abuse. Molester being a part of the family easily gets the access to abuse the child. Studies stated that more than 70% of abusers are immediate family members or someone very close to the family, 60% of the perpetrators are family acquaintances, like a neighbor, babysitter or friend and 10% of the perpetrators in child sexual abuse cases are strangers.
It has been observed that in many child abuse cases the children fail to report the incident to their parents. Why is it so?
The majority of molested children are perpetrated by family members. Most of these people are called Incest perpetrators who are trustworthy persons in a child’s life. Thus, after the abuse firstly, they are not able to understand what happened to them, secondly, they are being threatened to not disclose this incident to anyone else, thirdly, lack of communication even if the child reports the incident, because of the status of trust of the molester in the family nobody believes the child’s testimony.
Can child sexual abusers be rehabilitated?
It depends on who the child molester is, the majority of molested children are perpetrated by family members, close relatives or people who have close proximity to them, and as a result most of the cases are not being reported. The type of child molester most resistant to treatment is called Fixed Paedophile. Most child abusers will probably be able to stop if they are held accountable, punished appropriately and also given the proper kind of therapeutic treatment.
