incest
Until very recently around early part of 1970's, the sexual assault of children within their families was rarely openly discussed until the emergence of the second wave of feminism. Incest has been variously defined. The definition that will be used here is a wide one, which includes sexual assault of a female child by a male member of her immediate family ( father or stepfather) or extended family (brother, grandfathers and uncles) and/or trusted family friends. These men are in generally in a relationship with the child which involves trust and respect to an authority on the side of child, and family, social and economic power on the side of the perpetrator. Children are vulnerable and dependent on adults for their very survival. As with other crimes of sexual assault, the sexual abuse of children is a crime which is characterized by a high incidence of under- reporting. The reasons for this include the fact that the abuse is taking place within the privacy of the family. The victims are children of all ages some of whom are so young they cannot talk and do not have the knowledge to know that anything is wrong. The perpetrators are men whose authority children are told to obey. Often the child is also threatened to keep w
Sigmund, Freud. 1977. "Some Psychical Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction Between the Sexes" in Sigmund Freud on Sexuality. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Feminism presents a different explanatory framework, This explanation understands sexual assault to be a violent way in which men choose to impose their power over women. This framework understands incest as an abuse of power that is gender specific and age oriented (It is fathers (men) who hold power that sexually abuse their children). Unlike the theories discussed above , the feminist theory begins from the victim of this crime, and locates its causes within society rather than biology or in the mind of individual perpetrator. Feminists have listened to the women and children who have broken the silence around this crime and spoken of their experiences. By taking a victim oriented approach feminist have contributed a great deal to understanding child sexual abuse. They have placed the blame of child sexual abuse where it belongs - on the offender not the victim. Feminist today have challenged the limited definition of what constitute sexual violence and broadened the definition of sexual abuse such as the continuum of sexual abuse.(Liz Kelly, 1988) Thirdly, Children's experiences are not the focal point of feminist analysis (as with dysfunctional family and Freud's psychoanalytic theory). Thus feminist analysis is not a child centered approach. Women's experiences have been missed historically and feminist have said that women's experiences are being tagged on to men's. Now the feminist analysis of child sexual abuse is missing children's experiences, they are tagging children's experiences on to women's. For example sexual violence against women includes child sexual abuse. The term patriarchy is used to understand child sexual abuse. Patriarchy is defined as male dominance over women , children are invisible in this definition.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Liz Kelly, Diana Russell1986, , Leni Dominelli, Aetiology Hysteria', Oedipus Complex, Thirdly Children's, Finally Feminism, sexual abuse, Diana Russell, child sexual abuse, child sexual, Father-Daughter Incest, dysfunctional family, sexual assault, family model, dysfunctional family model, women children, et al, power women, waldby et al, feminist analysis, waldby et, freud's psychoanalytic theory, childhood sexual abuse,
Approximate Word count = 3946
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)
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