Overcoming sexual abuse

Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Mark 9:37 (photo: neonzero)

If you know more than a few people, odds are that you know someone who has been sexually abused. One study indicated that as many as 38% of women had been sexually abused by age 18 (Allender, rear flap). Sexual abuse victims are male as well as female, but girls are at a higher risk than boys.

Most abuse is committed by a family member or someone known by the victim. National statistics show that 29% of abuse is committed by family members and 60% is by acquaintances (Allender, p.92). Stop It Now! Georgia reports that in Georgia 82% of cases involve members of the immediate or extended family of the victim. Often the abuser was a birth parent (37% of cases) or a sibling (22%). Abusers can be men or women, but more often the abuser is male (95% in cases of girls and 80% in cases of boys) (p. 272).

To read the rest of this article, please click the links below:

Part 1 Characteristics of Abuse
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/the-wounded-heart-overcoming-sexual-abuse-review

Part 2 Hope for Healing
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/the-wounded-heart-overcoming-sexual-abuse-part-2-review

Tags: abuse, abuser, Allender, help, incest, rape, sex, sexual, The Wounded Heart, therapy, treatment, victim