3.2: The Progression of Sexual Abuse

The Progression of Sexual Abuse

Unless the child sexual abuse is an isolated, often violent incident by someone unknown to the victim, the perpetrator will groom the victim in a slow but steady progression of sexual abuse. The purpose of this grooming is to allow the child to become comfortable and have “buy-in“ to the activities. Perpetrators often establish a sense of trust and that of playing games to entice the child to participate. They also establish hard and fast rules of secrecy.

The grooming may follow a progression similar to the following: (Crosson-Tower, pp. 126 to 127)

• Nudity (on the part of the adult).
• Disrobing (of the adult in front of the child).
• Genital exposure (by the adult).
• Observation of the child (bathing, dressing, or excreting).
• Kissing the child in a lingering, inappropriate manner.
• Fondling of the child’s thighs, buttocks, breasts and genitals.
• Masturbation (mutual or solitary).
• Oral stimulation of the penis, vulva or vaginal area.
• Digital penetration of the anus or vagina.
• Penile penetration of the vagina or anus.
• Rubbing of the perpetrator’s penis on the genital or rectal area, inner thighs, or buttocks of the child.

These acts and others often progress through six basic stages:

1. Engagement phase (perpetrator elicits cooperation and plays on child’s need for human contact and affection, adult approval, enjoyment of games, and material rewards.)

2. Pressured sex (enticement and entrapment are used as a way of making the child feel indebted or obligated. Bribery is often at play.)

3. Forced sex (involves the threat of harm to others if the child does not cooperate, and threat of harm to the child. The child is seen as an object for use by the perpetrator.)

4. Sexual interaction and secrecy phases (any range of sexual abuse may occur during this stage, but the perpetrator uses power to dominate, bribe, emotionally blackmail or threaten the child into keeping the secret and continuing the acts).

5. Disclosure phase (may occur by the victim during childhood or years later.)

6. Suppression phase (once the child has disclosed the victimization, he/she may be encouraged or compelled to recant or forget the abuse, because of what the realization might mean to others.) This phase does not always occur, but can be very harmful to the victim when it does.

The Frequency of Sexual Abuse on Children

"Sexual violence is a social and public health problem in the U.S. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men experienced sexual violence victimization other than rape at some point in their lives." (www.cdc.gov)

According to the National Children’s Advocacy center, approximately 1 in 10 children in the United States will be sexually abused before they turn 18. (www.nationalcac.org) In 2022, the World Health Agency estimated that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 13 boys are sexually abused as children, world-wide (reported rates were slightly lower in Asian countries). Many of these children experience this abuse during early childhood (0-9 years of age). Statistics are incomplete, as not all sexual abuse cases are reported.

Computer technology has dramatically increased the incidence of child pornography. People can hide in their own homes and participate in pornography, unbeknownst to anyone else. This can lead to interaction with children over the Internet, and even to grooming of victims over time. Sometimes these victims are met in person and further abused. Children tend to feel more protected over the Internet than they should, because they are in their own home. This does not prevent them from becoming victims.

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Child sexual abuse on the internet is massive and growing. In 2018, more than 45 million images of child pornography were reported to the National Center of Missing and Exploited children… nearly twice that of 2017. More than 60% of these featured children younger than 12 and included extreme acts of sexual violence. These children go through life fearing that they will be recognized by someone who witnessed their abuse online, and that people are still witnessing it as it lives on through the internet. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection found through research that 83% of young adults who had suffered online pornography child sexual abuse had thought about suicide. 60% had attempted suicide and 30% had been recognized by people who had seen their abuse material. (Julie Cordua, Ted Talk)

"shadow figure approaches" by Matt Henry photos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Another increasing situation which leads to extreme child sexual abuse is that of human trafficking. Young girls and boys are kidnapped daily and channeled into human trafficking rings and sex slave markets; sometimes these children are shipped around the world. We see the prevalence increase anytime there is a major sporting event (i.e. Super Bowl, World Series, Golf Tournament, etc.), concert or other event. In Seattle and other cities, communities are working to support, rescue and help with the recovery of these abused children. They work together with law enforcement to prosecute the abusers who enslave these children and those who purchase their services. They often work for years to rescue one child at a time. It is long, hard, and often dangerous work but to that child and their family, it is worth it. (A Powerful Strategy for Disrupting Child Trafficking).

Sexual abuse and sexual violence impacts families, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools and more. People can work together to prevent sexual violence by understanding and addressing the root causes. It starts with promoting social norms of respect for all.