Abuse calls a survivor s manhood into question. Some boys and men think that the abuse will cause or did cause them to become gay, bisexual, or transgender. No one knows for sure what determines sexual orientation and identity, only that it is very complex and forms over many years. No one event can change such a core part of someone s identity. Incest is a form of childhood sexual abuse in which the offender is related by blood, marriage, or other affinity to the child.
Victims range in age from infancy to late adolescence.
Sometimes, a child is told to touch or penetrate the abuser or another child. Many abusers try to make a child believe that the child desired or even initiated the sexual activity. Children sometimes do experience physical pleasure from contact. However, certain responses, such as erection and ejaculation, are based in physiology and do not prove desire or consent. The ability to understand, let alone consent to, a sexual relationship is far beyond the emotional and cognitive capacity of a pre-adolescent .