What is Male Sexual Abuse?

What is Male Sexual Abuse?

What is Male Sexual Abuse?
Sexual abuse is any violation of another person?s sexuality. For adults, a violation is any sexual act that is not consensual. Examples include rape, fondling, and unwanted sexual comments.

For children, ALL acts of a sexual nature are abuse. Young boys are not able to understand the concept of sex and are violated with any type of sexual activity. Young boys are also not able to consent to any type of sexual activity.

Examples of Abuse
Sexual abuse can take all forms. Most people think of it in terms of a physical act against a child by an adult. Unfortunately, the abuser may be another child and the abuse does not necessarily need to be physical in nature to cause damage.

For example, suggestive comments directed toward a young boy could cause long-term emotional damage. Another example might be a young boy being exposed to pornography. Both of these situations, although not involving the actual physical act of sex, are both still very damaging to the young child and would be considered abuse.
Why is Abuse so Damaging?
Because a child does not have a concept of what sex is, anything sexual can be very traumatic. A young boy does not have the maturity to even understand what is happening to him.

The trauma is further magnified if the abuser is someone in a position of authority over the boy. If he depends upon that person for protection, the betrayal can further add to the trauma for the young man.