NCJ Number
128042
Journal
Feminist Review Issue: 28 Dated: special issue (Spring 1988) Pages: 65-73
Date Published
1988
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The traditional and feminist definitions of child sexual abuse are examined with emphasis on their implications for feminist theory and practice in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
Recent media reports have made child sexual abuse synonymous with incest. In addition, many definitions specify that child sexual abuse is abuse by an adult of a child. However, interviews with 60 women revealed incidents ranging from touching assaults by relatively young boys through pressured and coercive sex to attempted rape and rape by adolescent strangers, acquaintances, and boyfriends. The interviews also found that many behaviors, such as verbal comments about the female's physical development during adolescence, were experienced as abuse. Therefore, a feminist definition would emphasize the concept of a continuum based on what females experience as abusive. Such a definition indicates the need for prevention programs that reflect the range of abuse experienced. 14 references