Child Abuse and Acquaintance Rape Victims (Research Paper Sample)

Child Abuse and Acquaintance Rape Victims
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As sad as it may sound, some humans occasionally tend to turn violent and abusive in the least expected situations. Even more shocking, is that the ugly side of humans is displayed when violence is directed to a helpless group of people whose only solace are the human-rights organizations and other activists groups. One group that has experienced some of the most vicious activities is that of children who, needless to say, are simply vulnerable and defenseless. In addition, acquaintance rape victims too suffer inhuman actions only that the crimes are committed by very well-known people. Each year, children suffer unimaginable abuse which leaves them in a very volatile state. Sadly, the offenders are sometimes relatives who are expected to take care of these children. Similarly, acquaintance rape victims suffer incomprehensible psychological pain which, again, is caused by close people. In this paper, the focus is on the child abuse and acquaintance rape victims.
Child abuse
Children fall in a group of people who fall victims of abuse ranging from physical to sexual abuse. In some countries it is not uncommon to find a five-year old child falling victim of defilement whereas elsewhere they are subjected to physical abuse like beating. While in some case the offenders are strangers, there a few cases of relatives and even parents being culprits. Sadly, where these cases are not brought into limelight, the rights of the child are abused since there is no one to fight the parent or the relative involved. Nonetheless, in many countries there are various groups that have been formed to advocate for the rights of children. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, n.d), a child’s self-esteem is greatly affected when they are abused. In fact, if the situation is not addressed early enough, a child’s future is adversely affected.
Acquaintance rape victims
These are people who suffer rape cases from individuals very well known to them. Normally, these people are not just well-known to the victims but also are close friends thus making the victim less suspicious. Many of the offenders are lovers or close friends whom the victim is not expecting such an incident from. It could happen in colleges or even in hotels where two individuals known to each other meet. The effects of this crime leave the victim quite traumatized and sometimes unable to report due to the attachment with the offender (Curtis, 2012). Even though these cases were not taken seriously in the past, many countries have created groups to address them.
Background research
As stated earlier, acquaintance rape victims are people who suffer sexual abuse committed by others who are not strangers to them. In other words, these are individuals whom the victim has been acquainted with for sometimes only for them to unleash abuse on them. On the other hand, child abuse victims refer to persons who have suffered inhuman treatment subjected by other people. In this case, the individuals may not be people known to the victims. The abuse could be sexual, mental or even physical where sexual implies that the child was defiled while physical may mean that the child was beaten. Both categories of the victim suffer psychologically which could see them develop unnecessary fear (Curtis, 2012).
Victims of child abuse
Being vulnerable and still growing up, children are easy prey for this kind of inhuman behavior where even parents subject it to their children. The escalation of these cases is evident where there are no groups tasked with monitoring it. Fortunately, in countries like United States, these cases are taken seriously and culprits normally face the law irrespective of the relationship with the child.
Incidence and prevalence rates. Statistics in United States in 2010 revealed a shocking trend where over 78% of children had been neglected, 17% had suffered physical abuse and a worrying 9.2% suffered sexual abuse cases. Sadly, the abuse of children is not a one-race affair; it was established that in 2011, over 600,000 children suffered abuse in US where 22% were of Hispanic background, 44% Africans while the Whites had 21% (Child Welfare information, 2012).
Characteristics of victims. Curtis (2012) stated that whenever children suffer these kinds of victimizations, the results are seen even in adulthood. Firstly, the child may demonstrate a high level of fear where upon seeing the offender the let out a loud cry. Psychologically, the child’s confidence and self-esteem starts to suffer.
Effects of victimization. According to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ, 2011), victims of child abuse are likely to suffer from drug use in the future. Additionally, they are "three to five times more likely to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, be abused again (p.1). Sadly, the victims could also be involved in delinquent actions in the future due to the insecurity and bitterness.
Acquaintance rape victims
As noted earlier, these are the individuals subjected to sexual abuse by people who are not strangers to them. Unlike in the case of child abuse which could be exerted by stranger, this crime can only be committed by people very well-known. In most cases it happens on a date, in school or in any other place where two individuals meet. Mostly, it is women who suffer these crimes though in some cases, men have also reported the same.
Incidence and prevalence rates. In 2012, a survey was conducted in United States where 6159 college students participated. In the study, 57% of the women respondents reported to have been victim of date rape. Sadly, 42% of these women neither reported to the police nor shared with anyone thus being left in a state trauma. Of concern though, is the number of young people who approved date rape on various scenarios. A whopping 51% of the male respondents approved date rape where "a lot of money has been spent on a girl" (Campus Advocacy network, 2012 p.3). Similarly, 41% of the female counterparts answered the same question in affirmative.
Characteristics of victims. Victims of acquaintance rape tend demonstrate a very high level of bitterness. Secondly, there is lack of trust on any other member of the society and in some cases even family members. Koss (2006) reported that mentally the person is severely hurt and may resort to alcohol and substance use in a bid hide from the subsequent embarrassment. Sadly, many people normally take the blame hence do not even report. It was discovered that only 10-25% of these victims normally report. Other feel they are to blame especially where the incident occurred in the offender’s apartment.
Effects of victimization: the effects of acquaintance rape on women weigh them down with emotional and psychological effects being evident and lethal. Firstly, Levy and Giggans (2013) reported that when this crime involves women, there is a tendency for them to be very violent. Secondly, gender stereotyping may start on the side of the victim where any member of the opposite gender is viewed as an offender. In other words, the victim starts viewing all men as offenders who may at any time take advantage of the victim. Consequently, the victim is always prepared to attack any man who show any sign of intrusion.
Child abuse vs. Acquaintance rape victims
In this section, the aim is to have a comparison between the child abuse victims and acquaintance rape victims. This comparison is on five topic including data collection, shared responsibility, victim-blaming/defending, support and services and additional support and services.
Data collection issues.
When it comes to the accuracy of data pertaining to the child abuse cases, much of the data presented by many is factual save for few statistics presented by lobby groups. In order to ascertain the accuracy of information, it is imperative that one relies more on the government records than Nongovernmental organizations. This is because many of them do have exaggerated data. However, when it comes to the cases of child abuse, much of the data is reliable, but does not accurately represents the extent of the problem. Obviously, children are not able to report these cases which mean some cases do go unreported. It is not in every family that children know their right thus the data is only giving us a fraction of the situation in many homes
Similarly, concerning the cases of acquaintance rapes, the data may not necessarily reflect the true number of cases though it gives the magnitude of the problem. Again, the problem with data from this category is that there is no differentiation between attempted and actual rape. For this reason, it becomes somehow hard to determine the cases involving the actual and attempted rape. Nonetheless, it is vital to understand that any record from the government sites can be viewed to be reliable. However, data collected from other sites like women organizations may not necessarily be a true reflection of the society thus the need to analyze them further. In fact the best way to determine the validity of this data is by comparing it with that of the government. Any action of overlooking this step could significantly affect the validity of this research
In comparison, the two groups differ in the in the issue of data reliability and validity with the cases involving the children bearing more weight and accuracy than acquaintance rapes. Mostly, the difference is caused by the fact that children will hardly report cases on abuse. Most likely they share with close friends or simply keep quiet for fear of further punishment by the offenders especially where the offender is a parent or a close relative. Conversely, date rapes occur where both parties are mature thus there is the ability to make decisions. Eve...