Sexual abuse is any misuse of a child for sexual pleasure or gratification. It interferes with a child's normal emotional develipment. Sexually abused children experience severe emotional disturbances from their own feelings of guilt and shame, as well as the feelings which society imposes on them. It is usually the hardest type of abuse to talk about. Sexual abuse can happen between adults and children and also between children and children when one child is a more powerful position than another.
Sexual abuse includes touching and nontouching offenses.
Sexual exploitation occurs when an adult engages a child for the purposes of prostitution or pornography. This is usually ongoing and often noticed by concerned family members or teachers. There are four types of neglect most often identified. Physical neglect -includes the refusal of or delay in seeking necessary health care, child abandonment, inadequate supervision, rejection of a child leading to expulsion from the home, and failing to adequately provide for the child's safety and physical and emotional needs. Educational neglect - occurs when a child is allowed to engage in chronic truancy, is of mandatory school age but not enrolled in school or receiving needed special educational training.