Study of mechanisms and factors related to sexual abuse in female children and adolescents

The case records of 311 children and adolescents who were medically evaluated for sexual abuse are reviewed. Only 18% of these victims were assaulted by strangers; 131 of the assailants were relatives. Thirty percent of the victims reported multiple assaults over a time period of one week to nine years. Physical examination showed no abnormalities in only 23% of the patients. Twenty-one patients had gonorrhea and seven patients were pregnant. Guidelines for the medical evaluation of patients suspected to be victims of sexual abuse are discussed.

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Linea Vestibularis: A Previously Undescribed Normal Genital Structure in Female Neonates

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.87.6.926 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 87 (6) ◽

pp. 926-929

Author(s):

NANCY D. KELLOGG ◽

JUAN M. PARRA

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Anatomical Variations ◽

White Area ◽

Multiple Lesions ◽

Single Entity ◽

Female Children ◽

Genital Structure

The increasing number of evidentiary examinations conducted for sexual abuse has accentuated the importance of defining normal genital anatomy, particularly within the vestibule of female children. In female newborns, normal anatomical variations of the hymen have been described1,2 but anatomical variations of the posterior vestibule underlying the hymen have not been reported. In children evaluated for sexual abuse a vestibular structure of varying description and location has been reported. A "midline avascular streak," "scar," and "a white area" have been noted in the posterior vestibule, posterior fourchette, and hymen.1,3,4 Whether these descriptions all pertain to a single entity or are multiple lesions is not known.

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SURVIVING SEXUAL ABUSE IN EVERYDAY LIFE: FORMS OF RESISTANCE USED BY CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Texto & Contexto - Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/0104-07072017000050016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Margaret Olinda de Souza Carvalho e Lira ◽

Rosane Gonçalves Nitschke ◽

Adriana Diniz Rodrigues ◽

Vanda Palmarella Rodrigues ◽

Telmara Menezes Couto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Life Forms ◽

Way Of Life ◽

Voluntary Work ◽

Children And Adolescent ◽

Analysis Process ◽

Family Routine ◽

Semi Arid Region

ABSTRACT Objective: to understand the forms of resistance used by children and adolescent victims of sexual abuse in the everyday family routine. Method: qualitative research developed at an Assistance Center to Women in Situations of Violence in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco, with data collected between June and November of 2014 through interviews with nine women. The analysis process was based on notions of Comprehensive Sociology and Everyday Life, with data organized by affinity, interpreted and categorized. Results: the emerged categories: ritualization of sexual abuse of children and adolescents in the family routine: acceptance of destiny through passivity; Camouflage to survive the experience of sexual abuse: silence, astuteness and acting/pretending in order to escape abuse, Between hidden sexual abuse and The revelation of sexual abuse. It can be seen that episodes of abuse occurred in secret and under the threat of abusers through intimidating gestures or words. Victims did not confront them or call attention or ask for help, they used tricks like metaphors, laughs and ironic words, as well as ridiculing them with excuses, hiding, pretending to be asleep or fleeing to the street. Conclusion: the underground centrality present in sexual abuse triggered forms of resistance in opposition to the oppression generated by the abuser in which, in accepting that way of life, the participants developed different survival mechanisms, as well as participating in voluntary work, music and sports, these vents alleviate the burden of concealing the abuse.

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