**1. Introduction**

152 Sexual Abuse – Breaking the Silence

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#### **1.1 Contextualizing violence and child sexual abuse**

The violence is present in the everyday life of citizens all over the world and in national and regional level too, affecting interpersonal relationships and influencing people's way of acting and thinking.

Violence is presented as a complex problem that affects, everybody without distinction, independent of social class, race, religion, sex or age. Today it is more studied, investigated and divulged and because of that it has acquired an important social meaning in the few years. (Moura & Lisboa, 2005)

The factors that contribute to violent responses – whether they are factors of attitude and behavior or related to larger social, economic, political and cultural conditions – can be changed. In this perspective, understanding the factors that increase the risk of young people being the victims or perpetrators of violence is essential for developing effective policies and programmes to prevent violence. (Krug et al, 2002)

However, we can note that the boundaries between different types of violence aren't well defined, so we must carefully examine all aspects of family violence, and particularly sexual abuse cases, seeking to get a better comprehension about the framework that professional faces. (Ciuffo, 2008)

In general, hearing about real cases of sexual abuse cause on people a feeling of malaise. Sexual violence affects many layers of society and people of different ages, including children and adolescents. Reports of such aggression against a child who probably had been induced or coerced and even forced to participate in such an act unfortunately are common.

In this sense, report and prevent child sexual abuse and other crimes against children is a worldwide concern. The cases reported on television and in newspapers of general circulation represent only the tip of the iceberg. If thoroughly investigated, it may be noted that a large number of boys and girls are subjected to violence of all kinds in their daily lives. (Ciuffo, 2008)

The interactions that individuals establish in society, economic issues, policies and legal requirements that govern society help us understand more clearly the various forms of violence and, among them, child sexual violence.

Child Sexual Abuse and Its Implications for Children's Health 155

development than the child or adolescent. The abuser or perpetrator has the intention to stimulate a child sexually or use it for sexual satisfaction. These erotic and sexual practices are imposed on children by physical violence, threats or inducements to his will / desire.

Child sexual abuse is one of the most perverse forms of abuse that victimizes children and adolescents. The healthy life expectancy is severely threatened by the consequences of this

Sexual violence, among all expressions of violence, brings more consequences for the child's life, considering that besides involving the physical part, it also affects deeply the emotional

Analyzing sexual violence, it is worth highlighting the inadequacy of isolating it from the psychological and physical violence. This can be explained because often other types of violence are associated, and the effects sometimes are worse than sexual violence

The threat was the most used (41.93%), followed by the use of physical force (29.03%) and seduction (16.12%) and there were no cases of use of a weapon of any kind. The threats often refer to the fact that the aggressor say to the children that they could not tell anything to the parents. In addition, many offenders make the victim feel guilty for the act committed by

Thinking about threats or physical abuse and their relation to sexual violence is essential and should not be forgotten. Therefore, it is necessary to contextualize the situations in

The data about this issue is worrying, as evidenced in this study, where the results indicate that children and adolescents victims of sexual abuse were, in most cases, female, 80.9%. The age of onset of abuse has focused on three age groups, with 10.6% of children ranging from 2 to 5 years old, 36.2% of these were between 5 and 10 years old and 19.1% were between 10 and 12 years old. Most children, 26.6% were attending primary school at the beginning of

Considering the links between actors of this delicate situation can best direct us to confirm the diagnosis. An important aspect about child sexual abuse is the fact that in most cases the abuser is someone known to the child, so he approaches quiet easily and has great persuasive power. Generally, the main objective is to convince the child to do what they

Child sexual abuse sets up a phenomenon that affects the entire family, and often exacerbates family disintegration, especially when dealing with sexual abuse that occurs

The perception of victims are related to the abuser shows that the majority of children and adolescents expressed the desire to stay away from the aggressor (41.8%) and were afraid of them (38.2%). Regarding the perception of aggression (31.9%) of the submitted information and documents examined, the children said they would not be conducive to the situation, or

part, leading to brand that will be taken to adulthood.(Woiski & Rocha, 2010)

(Krug et al, 2002).

experience.

only.

him (Inoue & Ristum, 2008).

which such act happened.

the aggression. (Habigzang et al, 2005)

within families. (Carvalho et al, 2009)

want in secret. (Ciuffo, 2008)
