Sexual abuse has caused a wide variety of problems including prostitution, sexual dysfunction, anorexia nervosa, low self-esteem, depression, sleeping disorders, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Most communities have their eyes shut to the needs of these children. These children are desperately in need of services to protect them against any offenses and to reduce the effects of any trauma. If the effects of sexual abuse are to be controlled on behalf of the child's long-term interests, then the community has to be prepared to have the treatment services available.

With the needs of law enforcement, a major objective, the needs of the abused child become inferior. While there may be the recognition of a child's need for medical treatment, physically, little understanding is shown of the emotional impact the crime has

Society's attitudes regarding child sexual abusers is best said by a statement of the Lieutenant-Governor of Nevada, "I can sum up my feelings on this sick subject pretty damn quick. Social workers wouldn't like it but you (law-enforcement officers) should unstrap that pistol and shoot them on the spot." A California judge told a child psychologist accused of sexual abuse that if "he dealt with my child, I would kill him. Now, that's on the record..." A Minnesota statewide poll found almost half of the population ready to throw those accused off buildings, string them up, or get rid of them any way they can. In Arkansas a man accused of child abuse was assaulted in his home and castrated by two masked men. No arrests were ever made. It is also true that child sexual abusers are in grave danger in prison because other inmates consider them as the worst of all prisoners and are lively to assault them.

When various studies relating to the effects of sexual abuse are reviewed, the best estimate is that in the short term 20% to 40% of the child victims demonstrate negative effects. These results make it imperative that a very careful evaluation of each victim be done in order to make sure that treatment is needed. Sometimes treatment can be more traumatic than the actual abuse.

There is also to consider the potential harm to children who have not been abused but maybe forced into treatment for sexual abuse due to an error in the "substantiation" of abuse. There are a number of families where an accusation resulted

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Approximate Word count = 1033
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)