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The Forum > General Discussion > How do we halt the sexual abuse of boys?

How do we halt the sexual abuse of boys?

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I urge everyone to read "The challenge of protecting boys from sexual abuse" from the Australian Institute of Criminology:
http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2007-RegionalComSafety/briggs.pdf

Australian boys are sexually abused far more frequently than the reportage would indicate. This paper beautifully explains the reasons for this, but answers are thin on the ground. How can we make it easier for boys to report sexual abuse?

The paper's conclusion:
"Boys are at greater risk of sexual abuse than reports indicate. They do not report sexual crimes because they do not recognise them as reportable offences or they are afraid to do so. When male offenders are involved, they are afraid of violence, being disbelieved, getting into trouble and, worse, being taunted as gay and effeminate. They worry about their sexuality and imagine that they were abused because they were identified as gay, not because they were young, uninformed and vulnerable. In addition, boys may find genital fondling and the receipt of oral sex pleasurable and that, in turn, increases both
the difficulty of rejecting more obnoxious and painful abuse and the offenders; opportunity to blame the victim for his abuse. Guilt and embarrassment prevent reporting and can lead to long term psychological harm resulting in physical and/or mental illness,
low self-esteem, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, poor concentration, relationship problems, drug and alcohol abuse, angry anti-social behaviour and crime, including repeating the abuse with children.

Bentovim (2006) and Abel et al (1987) found that one in 4-5 male victims re-enacts the abuse and becomes an offender while Abel and Harlow (2001) found that one in twentt male adolescents is already a paedophile. Abel et al (2001) suggest that if young offenders are identified and receive treatment, they have a high chance of leading normal lives.

Quite clearly the protection of boys has been neglected compared with the abuse of girls. Given the cost of child sexual abuse to society, the taxpayer and the individual, this has to be rectified.

Boys need school-based child protection programs that involve parents and address issues relevant to them. Some of those issues are clearly different from issues for girls."
Posted by Vanilla, Thursday, 24 January 2008 4:02:32 PM
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Make child abuse a hanging offence.

Child abuse is an offence of the worst kind, as bad if not worse than murder (noting murderers do not infect their victims with a propensity or ability to commit the same crime on others)

If you want to prevent an offence make the deterent the maximum and ultimate deterent.

No point in pretending paedophiles will ever "reform" or in any way curtail their predatory behaviour.

Through their action, they have proven their unworthiness to breath.

Don't ponder it, just do it, top the bastards and sleep in peace, knowing that at least some innocent child somewhere will be safe in the future
Posted by Col Rouge, Friday, 25 January 2008 11:48:38 AM
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Putting aside the fact that I don't believe in the death penalty, and the fact that I have no idea why I'm taking this seriously, I don't your solution is a good one Col. As the report shows, disclosure is a major problem, because my boys are related to or loyal to their abusers. If a child believes his abuser will die for his actions, he's even less likely to disclose the abuse.

Do you really want to give the abuser the ultimate blackmail fodder: "If you ever tell, they'll kill me, and it'll be your fault."?
Posted by Vanilla, Friday, 25 January 2008 12:05:47 PM
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And you should not consider it death is too harsh, we are however bound by political correct laws.
Nothing wrong with mandatory prison terms for offenders, make it law no way out law 5 to 10 years first offense.
Not to send them away says the victims do not matter let us worry more about the victims less about the offenders.
Posted by Belly, Friday, 25 January 2008 12:28:23 PM
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Punishment, of course, is important. But you need to find the perpetrators before you can punish them. One researcher found that male offenders commits an average of 522 child sex crimes before
being apprehended.

The point of this paper is that boys are reluctant to come forward and say they've been abused. They've sometimes enjoyed the abuse, in the initial stages. They're worried the abuse has made them gay. They're ashamed. They want to protect the abuser. They didn't know it was wrong - one study this research quotes found "78.5% of male victims believed that what was happening constituted 'normal' behaviour".

Note the research that indicate one in four or five boys who have been abused reenact the abuse.

I just wondered if anyone had any views on how we can help boys who have been or are getting abused.
Posted by Vanilla, Friday, 25 January 2008 12:48:53 PM
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These are staggering statistics.

>>male offenders commits an average of 522 child sex crimes before being apprehended<<

522 sex crimes before being apprehended? On average? That must mean that there are those who get away with it over a thousand times. Surely there aren't enough hours in the day? And what about those who get away with it completely? Isn't there a danger they will run out of boys?

Vanilla, perhaps it would be useful at this point to be absolutely specific about what you term "abuse". Particularly because:

>>"78.5% of male victims believed that what was happening constituted 'normal' behaviour".<<

and

>>They've sometimes enjoyed the abuse<<

It would appear that there is a major element of retroactive abuse, in that when the act (whatever it was) was committed, the statistical likelihood was that both participants believed it to be normal behaviour, and to have enjoyed it.

I don't mean to be obtuse, but as it stands this is looking like pure sensationalism.
Posted by Pericles, Friday, 25 January 2008 1:28:25 PM
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