Signs of Sexual
Abuse
Preschool
- Have a sudden
fear of specific things, people, places (bathroom or the room where the abuse
took place), etc.
- Act out inappropriate
sexual activity or display unusual interest in sexual matters. Have temper
tantrums, especially coinciding with visits to places or interaction with
certain people.
- Display violent
behavior such as kicking, hitting, bitingsurvivors feel extreme frustration
and anger.
- Have mood swings,
hitting, withdrawal (abused children often feel alone and helpless and withdraw
into a shell), culminating into depression.
- Have difficulties
with bed wetting or soiling.
- Experience nightmares
(monsters, being chased or bogey men), fear of going to bed, or sleepwalking.
- Display physical
symptoms of sexual abuse such as pain, itching, vaginal bleeding (bloodstains
in panties or pajamas), discharge, redness in genital area, or bladder or
kidney infections.
- Have difficulty
walking or sitting.
- Experience stomach
and digestive problems.
- Complain of
flulike symptoms or not feeling well.
- Display listlessness
(robotlike, sitting quietly and unemotionally until someone or something prompts
the child to act).
- Induce selfinflicted
pain (head banging, hair pulling, nail biting, body cutting or carving, frequent
accidents that cause bodily damage).
- Display regressive
behavior: baby talk, sudden clinging behavior.
- Display sudden
unexplained aggressiveness or rebellion.
- Insert objects
into genitals/rectum
- Act out sexual
behavior on dolls or toys. ]
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Preschool , Elementary
School-Age Children , Teenagers
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