According to the date from the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OCED), Mexico is in first place regarding sex crimes towards children. On the other hand, the organization Guardians warns that parents do not know how to identify sex abuse on their children; moreover, victims of this crime go through painful legal processes that make them feel like victims once again.
When the Aggressors are Close
During 2016, the School Montessori Matatena was in the eye of the storm after several complaints to the owner’s husband of the institution for sex abuse.
One the victims, age four, not only was abused very young, but he had to experience a rocky legal process that lasted, at least, three years until there was a sentence.
The boy’s mother stated that the legal process affected him more the abuse itself, it created a feeling of intimidation and threat that the legal system should have protected him.
The boy was submitted up to 20 hours of questioning, testifying time and again on the incident; something very hard, even for an adult. For the boy’s parents, the entire process felt as a double abuse: sexual and psychological, since the child suffered a regression in their recovery every time he was exposed to these endless questionings.
The trial lasted for three years and took a toll on everyone, adding to the media attention it had because a prestige school was involved.
The little boy had collateral effects like being submitted to HIV tests to clear is there was any contagion of this virus at early age.
Sequels of Sex Abuse in Childhood
The sequels of abuse are very deep, especially during the first years. In the report Violence in the First Childhood, the organization Guardians shows the importance of education during the first six years, and how much it affects the child an abuse experience at that stage of life.
Besides not knowing, in many cases, how to identify and deal with a sex abuse situation, many parents do not know their rights and which civil laws exist to file the complaint, even when having the will of reporting these cases of abuse.
The sequels this type of abuse leaves on children are extremely deep. These are some of those:
- Regression of development
- Sleep alterations
- Social isolation
- Teen pregnancies
- STDs
- Drug use
Abuse can happen progressively: the aggressor starts with groping, following it with seduction, and finally sexual interaction. Once this moment is reached, a change can be noticed in the child, which leads to discovery, which can happen on accident, by being caught in the act or by the child revealing it, via drawings verbally, or by playing.
Extreme violence happens when the aggressor goes straight for physical contact, attacking the victim and threatening them.
Abuse is harder to detect in younger children, since they don’t have the necessary tools to express themselves. Generally, the aggressor is part of their environment, which is why it’s important for parents to believe children when they make accusations, take the appropriate legal steps and find professional support for the child, in order to help them recover some semblance of normalcy in their everyday lives.
