Children of single parent easy target of sexual abuse - Report

University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine has found that the children mostly boys who are being raised by single parent are more likely to be abused than the children raised in normal households.

The researchers have found that due to absence of the parents in single household the young children is more likely to be the victim of physical abuse by either their acquaintance or relatives.

Study’s lead author, Dr. William C. Holmes, MD, MSCE, an Assistant professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement, "Children being raised by one parent are at a greater risk for many things as they grow up, including health risks such as poorly controlled diabetes and asthma. We now must add childhood sexual abuse to part of this risk picture.”

Factors such as socio-economic status were adjusted and still the findings pointed out that the children of single parents had a much higher risk of sexual abuse than the children with two parents and secondly, the risk gets much higher in the single parent earning lower income as compared with the one parent with higher income.

Holmes said, “There is definitely something about being raised by one-parent that independently contributes to the higher risk for sexual abuse. While children from lower income one-parent households are at a higher risk, better socioeconomics of the household don't make the risk go away completely."

Such children need emotional attachment and thus they turn over to others for the fulfillment of their needs who may sometime take advantage of them. As the single parent has to work to earn bread for the family and is most of the time away thus he doesn’t sometimes know what’s going on behind his back and the child suffers in silence while in children with two parents always have one or the other parent to look after them and provide emotional as well as psychological support.

Sometimes the predators woo the child with the gifts and try to grab their attention by providing them the emotional support, share their experiences etc. and thus forming a bond.

He concluded by saying, "The individuals that are heading up these one-parent homes are unsung heroes, serving in the dual capacity as parent and provider, and are doing amazing things."

"Studies like this one call for interventions that will provide more help to these heroes and the homes they head up… for example, through actual funding of better childcare facilities and/or increasing oversight of who provides the childcare at such facilities," he said.

The study is published in this month issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Sexual abuse is when the abuse involves a 'sexual component' such as incest or rape. Certain verbal behaviors are also termed as abuse like talking sexual things, pressuring to show gentials etc.

If the child shows symptoms such as beating siblings or others without any reason or on slight provocation, have nightmares and getting up shouting, frightened or drenched in perspiration, are depressed, prefer solitude, always anxious, have poor body image, have low self esteem, feeling of estrangement, make up drawing which shows sexual acts, or try to hurt themselves and sometimes on extreme conditions can commit suicide then special care must be taken of the child and as a parent you must try to know the reason behind such behavior. Such symptoms are shown by children who are sexually abused.

Few guidelines for parents:

# Don’t ever send your child alone anywhere; he can always go along with you or one of his friends.

# Let your children know the difference between good and bad touch.

# If you have to go out and have somebody to look after your child than make sure that the person is well known to you and even after that don’t ever force your children to obey each and every word the person or babysitter tell them to do.

# Avoid leaving your small children with strangers or even relatives or friends for too long. And always keep a tab on your child. Don’t have blind faith on others.

# Have friendly relation with child and let them know that they have all right to say NO if someone tries to take them somewhere: touches them or makes them feel scared or uncomfortable.

The first and foremost thing is don’t loose your control or blame yourself for what happened to your child. Listen to them and make them know that it’s not his or her fault. Sometimes parents don’t take their children’s word seriously and think he is just lying or making up things and thus the child becomes victim again and again for months or years and will not tell you again about it.

Once you come to know about abuse take a medical examination and psychological help for the child. Remember he or she can recover if you provide enough love, care and support to them.