Having conducted a research devoted to the relationships between boys’ and girls’ sexual abuse, the following results have been obtained. 28% of sexually abused girls experience sexual problems, suicidal attempts, and psychological distress in comparison with 49% of sexually abused boys. Notably, the reaction of girls’ abuse may be seen in family relations. The same reaction was described by Hébert et al. (2006) when he wrote about family dysfunction, despair, and dejection. These processes are closely interconnected with girls’ condition, therefore, when something wrong is seen, it can be easier to understand the issue. In case with boys, nothing similar is observed. Boys suffer from abuse more individually and do not allow their feelings to spread on the family well-being. However, sexual abuse may be a result of children’s suicide. The rate of boys’ deaths is higher than that of girls’.
Unfortunately, the research proved the spread opinion that the cases of girls’ abuse are more prevalent in comparison to boys’ one, however, this tendency is changing and the number of sexually abused boys increases. Conducting a literature review, we came across several studies with contradicting research results. Having compared the information containing in Leeb, Barker, and Strine (2007) where they are sure that the number of abused girls still remains higher with the research results presented by Cossins (2010) who is sure that boys are abused sexually, girls domination is obvious. This rate cannot be even compared to the one of girls’. Our research shows that even though the number of abused boys is great, predominate position still remains with girls. Therefore, the hypothesis of Leeb, Barker, and Strine (2007) should be reconsidered.
Dwelling upon the cases of sexual abuse and their influence on children’s life, it is essential to see that the affect on boys’ life is greater than on girls’ one. Being subjected to suicide, both boys and girls try to cope with the problem. Being more emotional, girls express their dissatisfaction, fear and pain through their behavior, while boys keep everything inside. Therefore, emotional pain of boys is greater as they are unable to cope with it themselves. Girls are more open and even if they do not say directly about their pain, they do all possible to release from it switching to something different. Of course, the family problems are not the way out of the situation, however, most of girls are able to cope with their personal issues having involved family into conflict.
Gartner (2007) is sure that one of the main reasons why boys and girls face the problem of sexual abuse is lack of knowledge. Having included the questions devoted to sexual education and to the problems all children are to know, it was found out that most of children are unaware of the simplest knowledge. Therefore, the research results prove the hypothesis that the number of sexually abused girls is higher, however, boys endure the problem more difficult as they are unable to cope with their pain and despair. Moreover, it has been found out that both boys and girls lack basic knowledge about sex and other related issues. The research has some limitations, the main of which is the inability to make sure that children gave fair answers. It should also be stated that many boys and girls may hide some information because of shame, fear, and the absence of desire to be different from others. Children prefer to remain silent than to speak. This is the main problem which is to be solved in the future.
Reference List
Cossins, A. (2010). Protecting Children from Sexual Violence: A Comprehensive Approach. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Gartner, R. B. (2007). Beyond Betrayal: Taking Charge of Your Life after Boyhood Sexual Abuse. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Hébert, M., Tremblay, C., Parent, N., Daignault, I. & Piché, C. (2006). Correlates of behavioral outcomes in sexually abused children. Journal of family violence, 21(5), 287-299.
Leeb, R., Barker, L. & Strine, T. (2007). The effect of childhood physical and sexual abuse on adolescent weapon carrying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(6), 551-558.