CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
Touching or fondling of sexual areas or in a sexual manner.
- Doesn’t have to be sexual areas – but the touching is done in a sexual manner.
- May often sound ‘normal’ if described.
An example of this would be an older man touching a young boy on the genitals. But it could also be the other way around. The young boy could be touching the older man’s genitals.
But it doesn’t have to be sexual areas e.g a woman gently caressing and rubbing a 7 year old boy's upper leg or lower back in a sexual manner can be sexual abuse.
As police officers investigating sexual abuse complaints, we often spoke to victims who reported touching by abusers in non-sexual places.
This kind of touching is often used by offenders as part of the ‘grooming’ process – and the sexual abuse becomes more obvious after a while.
Grooming is a term used to describe the process where a sexual offender prepares a victim for abuse and we will discuss it in more detail later. When a child discloses this kind of touching, it can easily be dismissed by parents and explained by the offender as a misunderstanding. Grooming can occur by both males and females.