“Sexual abuse and violence is a human rights issue,” Ken Clearwater said this in one of his Ted Talks and it could not be more accurate. No child should ever be abused, and yet everyday there are too many who are. Every year the national average for the number of children abused grows, showing that people do not understand or care enough about it to lower these statistics. This is because the average person does not know enough about the specifics of abuse to know exactly what they can do to change it. For example, they do not understand that it can happen to anyone, boys and girls alike. This makes helping those who are already victims even harder. Today’s kids are our future and we must protect theirs. Our kids can change the world, but not if we hurt them to the point they cannot, or do not want to live their own lives. Abuse hurts more than just the physical being of the victim; it can affect them mentally, emotionally, physical, and sexually. Also, it doesn’t just affect the victim at the time of the abuse, but it can affect them well into their adult years, and possibly even the rest of their lives. This is because they can contract a mental illness that is related to their past experiences. Some people also think that abuse is dependent on the gender of the victim, but this is wrong because anybody can be abused. Gender does not affect the type of abuse experienced, or the mental illness contracted, but it can affect the treatment received later.

Abuse is a problem that occurs too often in today’s culture, as Sebastian Bortnik points out in his Ted Talk, “The Conversation We’re Not Having About Digital Child Abuse,” when he claims that “this is happening and it’s on the rise” (Bortnik). To abuse someone means “to treat in a harmful, injurious, or offensive way, and to commit a sexual assault upon” (“Abuse”). These definitions show that abuse can be anything that’s detrimental to a person on any level, whether through words or actions. Also, the fact that there are several definitions that cover more than one aspect of abuse proves that there is more to it than people might initially believe. It can cover a range of things that people may not classify as abuse, but actually are.

Regardless of gender, a child can fall victim to different types of abuse. Physical and sexual abuse are prominent forms of abuse, but there is also mental, emotional, and even abuse that occurs over different forms of media. Out of all child victims, 6.9% are mentally abused, 17.2% are physically abused, and 8.4% are sexually abused (“Child”). These statistics given by the American Society for the Positive Care of Children prove there is in fact more than just adults hitting, or forcing themselves sexually onto kids. There is also mental harassment which can come in the form of verbal or emotional attacks. Verbal attacks can be telling a child they are worthless, or anything else that can make them view themselves as lesser. Emotional attacks occur when an adult tells the child that they are not allowed to properly express their own emotions, or when the child is neglected. Both of these things can traumatize the child because sending the message that they are not worth it and that their life isn’t worth living. 

Physical abuse is the physical beating of a child that causes bodily harm to them. It might not always be seen on the outside of the victim, but it is still a prominent type of maltreatment. There are some doctors who argue that physical abuse is dependent on the gender of the victim. For example, in the study, “Gender Differences in Long-Term Health Consequences of Physical Abuse of Children: Data from a Nationally Representative Survey,” the authors state that “men are more likely than women to have experienced physical abuse during childhood,” (Thompson). The authors stated this after conducting an experiment where they looked at how the gender of the child and the abuse experienced affected the victim as an adult. Ken Clearwater, in his Ted Talk, also discussed how boys were physically harmed and then treated afterwards. He mainly talked about how there were a great number of boys abused daily and rarely mentioned girls (Clearwater). His talk and the study both show how some people believe that physical abuse is mainly target to boys. However, this idea is false because everyone can fall victim to physical harm. This is proven by Sebastian Bortnik when he talks about a little girl that met her online predator in person. When the girl refused to have sex with the man he beat her until she died (Bortnik). The media and entertainment platforms also portray this idea when they show fathers beating their daughters because they are “getting to old” and aren’t their “little girl” anymore. Through these examples it’s obvious that girls fall victim to physical abuse just as much as boys. 

Sexual abuse is the rape, assault, or molestation of another person. In respects to child abuse, this is when an adult takes advantage of the child’s lack of knowledge or trust and abuses them. Sexual abuse is another type of abuse many people believe is specific to a certain victim pool, for example there are doctors and researchers who say girls are the main victims. This is shown in a study conducted by Martie Thompson, et al., that states females are victims of sexual abuse more often than males. For their experiment, they surveyed a small percentage of people, and from this decided that girls are more likely to be sexually abused than boys (Thompson). This survey is not an accurate depiction of the overall population because it is such a small percentage of people. Many also believe that for a male to be sexually abused they have to like it, this is talked about a lot in today’s society. This is not the case though and is even more wrong when the boy is too young to even understand what is going on. Boys are just as likely to be sexually abused as girls and Ken Clearwater helps prove this idea in his Ted Talk by stating things such as, “one in six boys will be sexually abused before their sixteenth birthday” (Clearwater). Even though his talk is one sided, mainly focused on boys, he makes the point to say that boys experience sexual abuse as much as girls. Sexual abuse is not dependent on the gender of the child who has fallen prey, it can happen to anyone. 

Finally, abuse through forms of media is when adults contact kids through the internet and coerce them into doing inappropriate acts that can be harmful to them. These acts can include sending illicit pictures or videos of themselves, giving out confidential information, and even meeting with the adult in person. Meeting with the offending adult in person is dangerous because on many occasions the adult has only harmful intentions. The reason these victims meet their attackers in person is because the attackers lead them to believe they are the same age and “friends” of the victim. This concept of tricking the victims is called “grooming” and is defined by Sebastian Bortnik in his Ted Talk as when “an adult contacts a kid through the internet, and through manipulation or lying, leads the kid into a sexual situation. From talking about sex, to sharing private photos” (Bortnik). There is not as much talk or debate about this form of abuse since it is a newer concept than the other types and all the different forms of media are constantly growing and changing. Through Bortnik’s talk, it is evident that he believes this is a type of abuse that evenly affects both genders. For example, when he states, “degenerate, perverted adults use the internet to abuse boys and girls,” his use of the words ‘boys and girls’ shows that it is not limite to just boys or girls (Bortnik). Abuse through media is becoming more and more prevalent as the digital age continues and it holds back no punches on its victims. 

Child abuse can lead to a person having a mental illness as an adult. Mental illnesses come in all forms and can manifest themselves in different ways. Some of the more well known mental illnesses are Autism, Down’s, depression, and PTSD, but there are many more. What makes mental illnesses different are the ways they affect people and how people contract them. Autism and Down’s Syndrome begin at birth, whereas depression and PTSD can start affecting the person at any point in their life. Traumatic events in a person’s life, or how a person was raised can bring an onset of mental challenges that they may not have had otherwise. Child abuse is just one of these traumatic experiences. As well as some doctors thinking the gender of the victim influences the type of abuse experienced, there are some that believe it also influences the type or level of mental issues experienced. However, anyone, no matter their gender, can succumb to these challenges. This is supported by the American Society for the Positive Care of Children where it is stated that “80% of twenty-one-year old’s that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder” (“Child”). This statistic shows just how prevalent this problem is. Then, in the British Journal of Psychiatry a study was published where the researchers found that “rates were higher for childhood mental disorders, anxiety disorders, and major affective disorders,” were higher in victims of abuse than others (Spataro). It is highly likely that an abuse victim will have a mental illness, and this is because it is one of the ways their brain can figure out how to cope with what was done to them. 

One way doctors and researchers can see the correlation between abuse and mental illnesses are through scans done of the victims’ brains. These scans showed physical abnormalities that related to the abuse experienced and there have been several studies done with this in mind. One such study was reported in Time by Maia Szalavitz where it was found that there were “specific changes in key regions in and around the hippocampus in the brains of young adults who were maltreated or neglected in childhood.” These changes to the brain can lead to the victims being more vulnerable to addiction, depression, and PTSD because the hippocampus controls the emotion and memory part of the brain (Szalavits). As well as this study, there is also a study from PsychCentral, a psychology website, by Rick Nauert PhD where he looked at the cerebral cortex. He found that victims who experienced emotional abuse had a thinner cerebral cortex than those who did not share this experience. He went on to discuss how this abnormality can lead to behavioral problems in adulthood (Nauert). All of these changes to the brain happen because of different reasons, but they all lead to the person having mental challenges.

Children who are victims of abuse can suffer from many mental traumas as adults. Some of them are addiction, depression, PTSD, sexual dysfunction, and even some more severe psychotic problems. The type of illness an adult has can depend on what kind of abuse they experience as a child. The study by Choi et al., supports this when it states that “there is a significant relationship between childhood physical, emotional, sexual abuse and psychotic symptoms” (Choi). The researchers found that each type of abuse leads to psychotic problems associated with that abuse and Nauert, from Psych Central, backs this up. In his study he finds that sexual dysfunction follows sexual abuse meaning that kids who were sexually abused as a child, through rape, assault, or molestation, will more than likely suffer from sexual issues in their adult life (Nauert). This is true with the other forms of abuse too. Kids who suffered from mental abuse could form depression and kids who suffered from physical abuse could have PTSD or sever anger issues. Also, just as abuse is not dependent on gender, neither is the illness that a person can have. It just depends on what their brain does to help them personally cope. 

However, one thing related to abuse that is dependent on the gender of the victim are the prevention methods, and post-abuse treatments a victim receives. This is because of the stereotypes and “norms” that surround abuse and victimization. The idea that girls are more likely to experience sexual abuse, and boys physical abuse, makes it easier for those victims to come forward. Boys will not come forward with sexual abuse because they are not likely to be believed, or are embarrassed. Ken Clearwater discusses this in his Ted Talk with a personal account of his own troubles. He was sexually abused as a kid and when he tried to tell people about it, they did not believe him because according to society, ‘boys cannot be raped because they have to like it for anything to work’ (Clearwater). Clearwater grew up to have several psychological issues because of his abuse that led him to have a troubled life. If people had just believed him and helped him, this would not have been the case. In comparison, girls are more likely to come forward because it’s more socially acceptable for them to have experienced sexual abuse. They are also more likely to not have their issues put into their records (Asscher). This means they can be more comfortable with coming forward because what happened to them will not be put on permanent medical papers. All children should be able to come forward and get the help they need after falling prey to abuse. One way this can happen is talking about it more and getting rid of the stigmas surrounding abuse. Parents, and other adult leaders, can also create a “safe zone” that makes a child feel comfortable and allows them to come to approach an adult, tell their story, and ask for help. 

The type of prevention put into place is also an important factor in the abuse cycle. According to Sebastian Bortnik, “we’re convinced that kids don’t need our help” (Bortnik). He then goes on to explain that this needs to change because we are our kids only hope in stopping this cycle. We have to protect our kids by listening to what they tell us and treating them how they should be treated. Rogers and Tuner, authors of Child Abuse: Indicators, Psychological Impact and Prevention, agree with this statement when they write: “parents are responsible for the protection and care of children and are in a powerful position to make a difference in terms of prevention and early detection.” Rogers and Tuner then go on to say how the parents of the victim can do this through making the person who has crossed the boundary aware that they did so, limiting the contact with that person, and warning others in their social circles about said person (Turner). These are just some of the ways parents can help their kids. Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk from the Psychiatric Annals also supports the idea that parents play the biggest role in prevention by stating, “parental support is a key mediating factor in determining how children adapt to victimization” (van der Kolk). How a parent, will respond to their kid becoming a victim dictates whether that kid will come forward or not. If a kid is not comfortable with telling their parent what happened, the parent will not be able to prevent it from happening again. The same goes for if the child’s own parent is the abuser. If there is no one for the child to turn to, or the person they want to talk to does not listen, the abuse will just continue. 

Child abuse is a dangerous cycle that is constantly growing in today’s world instead of shrinking. This has to change because our kids are the future of the world, and if they are hurt, or hurting, what kind of world will they have? People must stop looking at abuse as taboo and a gender issue because once this changes, the help these kids need will start to become available. The abuse cycle will never truly stop because there are bad people in this world who just enjoy hurting others, but it can be and must be helped. 
