Child Sexual Abuse: The Face and Reality.

Child Sexual Abuse: The Face and Reality with Tosin Folarin. 

Child sexual abuse, is a form of  abuse in which an adult or older adolescent engages a child (0-18) in sexual acts. This can occur in various forms e.g. child grooming, sexting, indecent exposure (of the genitals, female nipples, etc.),  or using a child to produce child pornography.

It is refuting to think child sexual abuse doesn’t happen in our community. Sometimes, when people think about child abuse, they picture an old rickety man in an abandoned building signaling on a child by the road side to come take biscuit. This is a myth! Sexual abuse doesn’t happen to the less privileged children alone.  Child sexual abuse can occur in a variety of settings, including home, school, and work. The perpetuators of this abuse are usually the caregivers (people we entrust children to; to protect and care for them) e.g. Fathers, Uncles, Aunties, House-helps, Teachers, Gatemen, neighbors etc. 

Statistics have shown that over 90 percent of sexually abused children are abused by someone known by the child or family.

 Additionally,

1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys in Nigeria experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 years. 

Every afternoon, no less than 5,000 boys in Nigeria experience Sexual Violence.

61% of boys in Nigeria who experience Childhood Sex Abuse do not know where to seek help. 

84% of girls in Nigeria who experience Childhood Sex Abuse do not know where to seek help. 

20 percent of childhood rape attempt occur in school.

The effect of child sexual abuse is devastating as some can be short term some of which may include sleep disturbance, bed wetting, eating disorders. The long term effects are depression, low self-esteem,  feelings of betrayal, abnormal view of sex, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, withdrawal, propensity to further victimization in adulthood, complex post-traumatic stress disorder,  and physical injury to the child the list is endless.

A good number of people shy away from talking about child sexual abuse, perhaps we believe if we do not talk about it, it doesn’t exist or perhaps many cases has to deal with incest and we are afraid of bringing ‘shame’ to the family. Whatever the case may be we need to talk about it. We need to take report.

As active citizens we have a role to play in curbing child sexual abuse. It is our responsibility to ensure that every child in our environment is safe and free from child sexual abuse. It is our role to ensure that every child enjoy their childhood without been sexually abused.

How can we ensure this? What is our role? Who will save the child? These and many more questions will be answered in the next series. 

About Tosin Folarin.

Tosin Folarin is a Child's  Rights Advocate who works hard to ensure that childhood is not disrupted by abuse or any form of injustice to the child. She is a Child Helpline Counselor with Cece Yara Foundation, a leading Non Profit Organization specifically designed to end Child Sexual Abuse.
Tosin is a volunteer par excellence who has dedicated her youth to serving humanity by volunteering for worthy causes. She is a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) where she creates awareness about the SDGs in secondary schools.
She is an Education Advisor with Titivator Hub where she does research, advocacy and book drives for Internally Displaced Children in Durumi camp, Abuja.
Previously, she served as an  International Citizens Service volunteer with VSO where she bagged the National Volunteer Award (2016) in the United Kingdom. She supported an agricultural project through training of farmers in the Cocoa value chain, adult literacy facilitation, business skills training and mentoring among others.
In her free time, Tosin writes on social issues and supports campaiigns aimed at making the world a sustainable hub for human existence.

Thank you for taking time to read and share this post. Should you have any questions, comments or suggestions do not hesitate to use the comment box.


Please visit and follow us on our social media accounts:

Facebook: The Nineteen Initiative
Instagram:@thenineteeninitiative.
Twitter: @19_thenineteen.

THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.