Child sexual assault is any behaviour imposed on a young person or child, usually by a male (97% of offenders), taking advantage of his position of power and trust within the family.  Less than 10% are abused by strangers.

Sexually abusive behaviours are varied and include acts that make the child or young person feel scared or uncomfortable.  This behaviour can range from exhibitionism to penetration.

Whether the abuse occurs once or many times, the traumatic effect is maintained due to fear instilled by threats, fear of further abuse, or promises of rewards for ´keeping the secret´.

Secrecy and community denial of child sexual abuse gives permission for the abuse to continue.  Similarly, the community´s reluctance to interfere in ´private´ family matters, and the desire to maintain the illusion of family as a ´safe´ unit, hides and condones the widespread incidence of incest.

Laurel House has broadened the definition of child sexual abuse because:

1. The restriction of incest to mean sexual intercourse between two related persons only accounts for a small proportion of the total range of sexually abusive behaviours.
2. Sexual abuse of children often involves other people who have the same kind of trust and power for example, parents, step-parents, uncles, family friends, grandparents and siblings.

Child sexual assault is characterised by the betrayal of trust and abuse of power implicit in relations with children.

There are several alternative ´labels´ or definitions for Child Sexual Abuse.

1. Incest is a term that is often used.  It can be defined as "sexual intercourse between closely related persons where marriage is legally forbidden".  It is a criminal offence.  However, this doesn´t define the problem for several reasons:

·         Adults, other than relatives, sexually abuse children.  They are often adults with the same kind of
          trusting relationship that is found within the family.                   

·         Children can be sexually abused in ways other than sexual intercourse.

2. Sexual assault is a fairly good term to use, but it implies physical force; more often, a child is kept compliant through lies and threats.

3. Child rape is a term that again implies force.  It also implies some kind of sexual penetration either oral, anal, or vaginal; this does not always occur.

4. Child molestation is a term that has connotations of ´the stranger in the playground´.  In an overwhelming number of cases the child knows the offender very well.

It is important to use a term for the problem that defines it clearly and avoids confusion in the mind of the hearer.  For this reason Laurel House has chosen to use the words child sexual abuse with this underlying definition:

Child sexual abuse is a sexual act imposed on a child who lacks emotional, maturational, and cognitive development.  The ability to lure a child into a sexual relationship is based upon the all-powerful and dominant position of the adult or older adolescent offender, which is in sharp contrast to the child´s age, dependency and subordinate position.  Authority and power enable the offender, implicitly or directly, to coerce the child into sexual compliance. (Susan Sgori)

Child abuse is:

·     "Contact or interaction between a child and an older person in which the child is used as an object of
       gratification for the older person´s sexual needs or desires." (N.S.W. Child Sexual Abuse Task Force)

·      The sexual abuse can involve a broad range of sexual acts: exhibitionism, fondling genitals, 
       masturbation, oral sex, vaginal/anal penetration by finger/penis or any other object.

·      Usually the form of sexual contact progresses over time.