Sexual Abuse As A Public Health Concern - 1306 Words

Sexual Abuse as a Public Health Concern Heather Gagnon 10/6/15 Sexual abuse is a major public health concern in our country that affects numerous men and women of all ages. According to LoveIsRespect.org, â€Å"Sexual abuse refers to any action that pressures or coerces someone to do something sexually they don’t want to do. It can also refer to behavior that impacts a person’s ability to control their sexual activity or the circumstances in which sexual activity occurs, including oral sex, rape or restricting access to birth control and condoms.† Most perpetrators are known by the victims and can include romantic partners, family members and acquaintances (CDC.gov â€Å"Sexual Violence: Facts at a Glance†, 2012). Sexual abuse is also becoming an†¦show more content†¦Childhood sexual abuse survivors may suffer from body issues including eating disorders, and mental disorders including anxiety and depression. Children may have sexual and relationship problems that affect them throughout their lives. Victims m ay also suffer from multiple physical effects that are detrimental to health including chronic pain, sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer and other complications with the reproduction tract. Unplanned pregnancies are a huge concern as well. The long-term emotional consequences associated with sexual abuse can lead to victims engaging in risky health behaviors. Victims are more likely to have unprotected sex, have multiple partners and become involved in prostitution and they are more likely to suffer from substance abuse with drugs and alcohol (CDC.gov â€Å"Sexual Violence Consequences†, 2015) In order to prevent sexual abuse from occurring, public health workers need to take charge in administering preventive techniques for populations as a whole as well as focusing on those individuals with risk factors that create a greater chance of sexually abusing others. According to the CDC, individual risk factors for becoming perpetrators include alcohol and drug use, d elinquency, empathic deficits, general aggressiveness and acceptance of violence, early sexual initiation, coercive sexual fantasies, preference for impersonal sex and sexual-risk taking, exposure to sexually explicit media,