2.0 Sexual abuse
Defining sexual abuse is no easy
task. This is because the definition will vary from culture to culture, from
country to country, from courtroom to courtroom, and from individual to
individual. It is common to differ
between judicial and psychological definitions of sexual abuse. The judicial
definition of sexual abuse in Norway
follows from the Norwegian Crime Law (2005). In chapter 19 about sexual crimes,
one can find different acts which are found to be illegal. Sexual crime laws
differ from one country to another so what is illegal in Norway can be legal in other
countries. Some of the basic elements in many of the psychological definitions
which are sett forth seem to be that the sexual act is of a kind that the child
does not understand and is not old enough to give an informed consent to, and
the act violates the child’s integrity. Other elements have to do with power or
that the perpetrator misuses the child’s dependence in the relationship. The
act is based on the perpetrators different needs and not the child’s, and that
the activity violates with social taboos within the family or is illegal. I
will in the following reflect closer on the difficulties in forming a consensus
on how sexual abuse is to be defined and the importance of having in mind the
array of definitions used and the effect this has in trying to determine the
prevalence of sexual abuse.2.1 Defining sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse can be understood
as a diversity of different actions which can vary from exposure and peeping,
photography, verbal communication, touching and intercourse. Where the boundaries
go between normal activities that are accepted in a specific culture and what
is illegal, are questions that must in my opinion be answered by the national
judicial system which can be understood as a judicial definition of child
sexual abuse. Another way of defining sexual abuse is through more
psychological definitions. Fundamental elements that seem to be found in most psychological
definitions of child sexual abuse are that the actions occur to satisfy the
perpetrator on the expense of the needs to the vulnerable child. It is about
actions which the child can not understand, are not mature for or can not give
an informed consent. In cases where it seems that the child is an active part
in the sexual actions, the child is still not responsible and the actions that
child shows must be seen as learned activities which are not in accordance with
ones age and development.
There are a large number of psychological
definitions of the phenomenon labelled as sexual abuse of children. Grünfeld
(1982) focuses on the child’s development process and human integrity in a
governmental report on child abuse and neglect (NOU 1982: 26), while DeVine
(1980) on the other hand focuses on the fact that the adult uses the child as a
resource for the adults own satisfaction. Both of these perspectives assume a
division between the adult and the child both psychologically and sexually, and
the abuse consists of the child being drawn into the adult’s sexual world of
symbols and actions.
Hildebrand (1983) uses a definition
where the child is seen as a sexual object. The perpetrator does not have to be
an adult in her opinion, but is in a position where one has resources or
properties that gives a certain amount of power over the child. The perpetrator
does not even have to have sexually defined motivation for the abuse. The motivation
for abusing the child through sexual actions can be the need for power, recognition,
or proximity.
The different definitions of sexual
abuse vary, according to Mrazek (1981) between four perspectives:
a) normal sexual activity,
b) what is considered immoral,
c) what is included in criminal law,
d) and psychopathological aspects.
This makes the path difficult of
finding one clear definition of what child sexual abuse is. The vast amount of
definitions to be found seem to depend on professional background, moral and
political standpoints, cultural element, and so forth. Defining sexual child
abuse can often be experienced as a dilemma for many institutions working with
child sexual abuse programs. In this study it has been of importance to define
sexual abuse in a manner which permits a clear distinction between sexually
abusive acts from non-sexually abusive acts. Krivacska (1990) has tried to take
several of the mentioned perspectives into consideration: “Child sexual abuse
occurs when a child and at least one other significantly older individual
engage in sexual contact or exposure in a sexual context” (1990: 417). This definition
puts forth three factors which all must be present for child sexual abuse to
occur: age-discrepancy, sexual contact or exposure and a sexual context.
The problem with most psychological definitions
of child sexual abuse seems to be in my opinion that they do not specify what
exactly is meant by the adult sexual acts. This is clearer in the judicial
definitions, but also these vary from one country to another. Acts happen in a context and must carry a
special message in order to be conceived as being sexual. In Norway these different acts and contexts
are specified in the Crime Law (Straffeloven)
chapter 19. Here one finds mentioned acts such as how the genital are touched, intercourse,
and masturbation as examples of the concrete actions that may take place. The
gravity of the abuse is defined from how clearly sexual the acts are. The law
differs between three different forms for contact: sexual behavior, sexual action,
and sexual intercourse. What is included as the action of sexual abuse should
be relatively clear by using these three paragraphs
- Sexual behavior (seksuell atferd):
Sexual behavior is the
mildest form for sexual offensive which includes indecent forms of behavior in
either words of activities but does not include any physical contact. Examples
that are given are; exposing oneself indecently, indecent speech, showing
indecent pictures or film, to children under the age of 16. This includes
indecent behavior over the telephone, internet or other electronic communication
(Criminal Law §201).
- Sexual action (seksuell handling):
Sexual actions is a more
severe form for sexual abuse and includes actions towards someone that has not
given their consent to being pawed, having their sexual organs touched, or
doing the same towards children under the age of 16 (Criminal Law §200).
- Sexual intercourse (seksuell omgang):
Sexual intercourse is
the most severe form for sexual abuse and includes sexual contact with children
under the age of 16 for example; intercourse (vaginal, anal or oral),
intercourse resembling conduct, masturbation, or licking/sucking of genitals
(Criminal Law §§192-199 and § 206). Rape is also included here and is described
as having sexual contact with others by using violence or threatening behavior
or in the same way making someone have sexual contact with someone else. Having
sexual contact with someone that is unconscious, or of other reasons is unable
to defend oneself, is also considered rape (Criminal Law §192).
The Incest Center
in Vestfold defines child sexual abuse as:
Child sexual abuse is
physical or psychological exploitation of the sexual integrity of children
committed by one or more persons whom the child is dependent of or is in a
relation of trust with (interview with the leader of the Incest Centre 06th of October
2008. My translation.)
This definition gives a relatively
clear picture in my opinion of child sexual abuse having to do with physical or
psychological exploitation of the sexual integrity of children, but does not
define the child’s age or which acts are to be included as sexual abuse. The
definition also seems to imply that if this exploitation is committed by
someone the child is not in a dependent or trusting relation to, then the act
is not sexual abuse and thereby disregards rape and other forms for sexual
abusive acts committed by strangers as sexual abuse. I have asked 19 Incest Centres in Norway how they define sexual
abuse (Pettersen, forthcoming article) and several seem to use the same
definition as the Incest Centre in Vestfold, but the definitions also vary a
great deal (appendix 23); from using the judicial definition in the Norwegian
Crime Law chapter 19 to letting the users of the Incest Centre define for
themselves what sexual abuse is. In my opinion having a clear conception of
which actions can be defined as being sexually abusive is important in working
with victims of sexual abuse and their relatives and therefore it is my opinion
that the judicial definition of sexual abuse from the Crime Law chapter 19
should be used as the prime definition of sexual abuse in the social work carried
out in Norwegian Incest Centres, because it gives the clearest picture of which
acts sexual abuse includes. The Centres should also in my opinion have
sufficient expert knowledge of what can be considered as normal sexual activity
amongst children (the child’s normal sexual development), moral aspect of
sexual abuse which prevail in different cultures (such as what is considered as
indecent or taboo), and psychopathological aspects of sexual abuse (such as
personality disorders, psychiatric problems, paedophilia
and other paraphilia[1]).
[1] John Money (1980) defines
paraphilia as a compulsory reaction to and necessary depencence of an unnormal
personal or socially unacceptable stimulation which is either experienced as
real or fantasy in order to achieve an optimal sexual excitement and
reinforcement of orgasm.
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