There are several problems that directly affect children today, especially those born to low-income families, without having been planned, and who end up becoming victims of neglect and violence. As Children’s Day approaches in Brazil (October 12), we’ve prepared a series of articles about various topics on this issue, inviting all to a reflection.


Closing our eyes to sexual abuse

Each year, the number of children who suffer sexual abuse grows.

“I was a happy, smiling, beautiful girl, but everything changed the day I suffered sexual abuse. I was three years old and I remember being raped by a man in his 30s, who was one of my father’s friends. He raped me for real. He had sexual intercourse with me. Many people say it is impossible to remember something that happened at such a tender age… but I remember it very well. I remember being taken to the doctor, not wanting to let him examine me, and having my genitals hurt, after all, I was only a child.”

The story you just read is Ana Carolina’s, the fictitious name of a young lady who did not want to be identified. Besides her, thousands of other children are sexually abused every day in the country. For you to have an idea, in 2007 there were more than seven thousand reports of sexual abuse. And in 2009, that number increased to almost 10,000. Despite the alarming rate, there are still many unknown cases, especially in the countryside.

Ana Carolina, like other victims of sexual abuse, prefers to keep silent. Many parents opt for isolation, and believe that, by not talking to the child about what happened, they will soften the suffering of the family. That’s what Ana’s parents did, hoping that she would forget it as she grew up. However, she became fearful and had a troubled adolescence.



Usually, the lack of family structure prevents parents from noticing any changes in their children’s behaviour. In many cases, the abuser sleeps in the room next door, and may be the father, uncle, stepfather, brother, grandfather, neighbour or a family friend. The problem is that not always are the parents aware of it. Ana Carolina, for example, was raped a second time when her parents broke up. “My parents split up and we went through financial difficulties. That was when I was raped again by someone I knew. Again, the fear, shame and guilt took over me, and I did not speak to anyone. I kept it all inside.” In situations like this, especially in the society we live in, where the sexual desire is stimulated at all times, care and concern for children should be reinforced, although it is not always possible in a dysfunctional family.



Music, soaps, movies and even cartoons stimulate the libido of paedophiles, exposing children to a cruel type of life imprisonment. Still, despite all warning, many parents, especially mothers, induce—perhaps unconsciously—their children to unnecessary exposure of their body. Many clothes supposedly made for kids reveal more than they should—inciting a sensual behaviour in children and taking from them the purest thing they have: their innocence.


The warning is that sex offenders will do absolutely anything to satisfy themselves. They use the body of a child or adolescent to sexually satisfy themselves—sometimes by means of physical violence. Ana Carolina, for example, experienced full sexual intercourse at the age of 3. The penetration that was meant for an adult woman happened to a child. But there are others who take children’s clothes off, touch, caress and force them to attend or participate in sexual practices—without ever being caught!


The worst thing is that, in addition to suffering abuse, children still have to live with the memories, traumas, fears, guilt and inferiority complexes, being forced into a “legal marginalization”. And, besides being emotionally and physically marked by the past, they still have to live with social hypocrisy, and believe that, one day, the world will be a better place for them.



By Jaqueline Corrêa
Arca Universal