Child sexual abuse and children sexuality: an undefined border
F. López Sánchez, E. González Ortega

SUMMARY

Study objective: Explore the criteria supported by those professionals who work with children at the time of deciding which child sexual behaviours should be cause for concern and intervention.

Design: An exploratory, transversal descriptive study.

Site: Spain (Salamanca, Madrid and Basque Country), Cuba and Dominican Republic.

Participants: 279 professionals, undergraduate and graduate students from different disciplines were incidentally selected.

Main measurement: A list of forty child sexual behaviours to be evaluated by assuming one of three evaluative criteria: the risks for the child’s health, their value as indicators of a possible case of sexual abuse and their value as definite signs of such abuse.

Results: Data show a lack of consensus on most child sexual behaviours. Expressed believes seem to be related to the characteristics of the child sexual activity and the specific criterion assumed in the evaluation.

Conclusions: It is necessary to delineate precise and agreed child sexual health criteria in order to help professionals identify damaging, abusive or abuse-related sexual behaviours in children.

KEY WORDS

Sexual abuse, children, sexuality, evaluation.