Sexual Harassment and Abuse

Teenagers are the most vulnerable in the society. Some of them are being sexually harassed and abuse daily at school by other teenagers, teachers and even by family members at home. Some of them are too hurt to tell anybody while others feel embarrassed to tell others. Another thing I’ve observed that teenagers face is  sexting. Sexting is the sending or receiving of sexually suggestive or explicit text or pictures by cell phone. Most of us adults don’t even have the faintest idea that such things are happening. Statistics show 13 percent of teens have received naked or semi-naked images from someone in school and 8 percent have sent them.

  A lady told me that she will never get married to any man. When I inquired from her about her decision, she revealed to me that she was raped by her aunt's husband when she was a teenager and she has never told anyone. She has suffered emotional and psychological trauma for years.

Most of the incest victims really want to tell someone about the family secret, but do not dare. That they are afraid to tell someone can, among other things, be due to the fact that they early lost their trust in adults. They may also have difficulties finding words for the abuse since they are too young to understand what really happened. The child could have tried to explain to mum what her dad is doing to her, but she did not really succeed to get mum to understand what she really meant. That way they can feel like they tried to tell, but that nobody wants to listen. Children, like adults, can in general have difficulties talking about sexuality. They can also be afraid that they will not be believed or they may feel threatened by the perpetrator. Through telling about the incest the children can lose the last bit of safety they have left, and they definitely do not want to break up the family.