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The Incidence Of Sexual Abuse And Unwanted Pregnancies Among Teenagers
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children in sexual activities that they do not fully comprehend and therefore to which they are unable to give informed consent and/or which violates the taboos of society. (McDowell, M. 2002).
According to Finkelhor D. (2003). Sexual abuse is any misuse of a child for sexual pleasure or gratification. It has the potential to interfere with a child’s normal, healthy development, both emotionally and physically. Often, sexually victimized children experience severe emotional disturbances from their own feelings of guilt and shame, as well as the feelings which society imposes on them.
Sinal, S. H. (2000), refers to child sexual abuse as any sexual act that occurs between as adult or immediate family member and a child and any non consensual sexual contact between a child and a peer.
At the extreme end of the spectrum, sexual abuse includes sexual intercourse and/or its deviations. These behaviours may be the final acts in a worsening pattern of sexual abuse. For this reason and because of their devastating effects, exhibitionism, fondling and any other sexual contact with children are also considered sexually abusive. Sexual abuse of children and teenagers is widespread in virtually all societies. (Population Report, 1999).
This increase has posed a problem to the individual, society, government and nation laws generally consider this issue of sexual abuse as an important one.
Globally, both boys and girls can be a victims of sexual abuse, most studies report that the prevalence of abuse among girls is at least 1.5 to 3 times that among boys and sometimes much more (Population Report , 1999).
In Nigeria, for example 30% of women and 21% of men reported behaviour constituting sexual abuse in childhood or adolescence.
However, the abuse among boys may be under reported compared with abuse among girls. In this research the researcher place more emphasizing on the sexual abuse affecting the females which leads to unwanted pregnancies sexual abuse can lead to a wide variety of unhealthy consequences, including behavioural and psychological problems, sexual dysfunction, relationship problems, low self-esteem, depression, thoughts of suicide, alcohol and substance abuse and sexual risk taking. Females who are sexually abused in childhood also are at greater risk of being physically and sexually abused as adults.
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