[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8738-H8739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CRISIS OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, just a few minutes ago I heard 
one of my colleagues on another matter dealing with children raise the 
question: Who lobbies for our children?
  Frankly, I don't want to live in a country that doesn't hold our 
children as the precious resources that they are, to be coddled and 
nurtured, given the opportunities of life irrespective of their ethnic 
background, religious background, economic background, where they live 
in this country. I think the greatest testimony of a country's moral 
values is how they protect and respect their children.
  Just an hour or two ago, Mr. Sandusky, in a Pennsylvania courtroom, 
decided not to listen to numbers of his accusers in this sordid scandal 
of child sexual abuse. That is his legal privilege. And as someone who 
adheres to the Constitution of due process and a right to a trial by 
one's peers, I'm not here to quarrel with a legal system that allows an 
accused--in this instance, a proposed defendant--to defend themselves. 
But I am here to challenge the crisis of sexual abuse of children in 
America and the sordid salaciousness of the coverup that adults have 
participated in. Shame on us. Shame on us.
  As the chair and founder of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I 
raise my iron and I ask the media around this country to come from 
underneath the rocks and begin to attack the coverup and quietness of 
professional or amateur sports, of college sports, of high school and 
primary and secondary sports, of nonprofits who deal with children who 
have an inkling or a knowledge of the sordidness and the dastardly 
actions of sexually abusing children and not saying one word. And so 
this week I'm going to ask my colleagues to join me in introducing 
legislation that will cease and desist Federal funding going to 
colleges and universities and nonprofits who are found to have covered 
up charges of child sexual abuse.
  When is it going to stop?
  The heinousness of the alleged acts of Mr. Fine in Syracuse by the 
State laws suggest that the statute of limitations cannot reach him. 
The Federal law must speak. The voice of America must speak. And the 
irony of it is I listened to a commentator this morning say, How long 
will the coach be able to stay in Syracuse in the prominence of their 
season this year? As long as he wants. And no one has gotten to the 
bottom of what happened to those boys at Syracuse University.
  Added to that is an ESPN tape that they sat on for how many years and 
no recrimination, no accusations against an entity that enjoys the 
trust and confidence and enjoyment of the American sports fans to have 
held a tape and denied that tape to at least be vetted to determine the 
harshness of what happened to a child.
  Child sexual abuse cases, 90,000 of them are reported, but the 
numbers of unreported abuse are far greater, because it is documented 
that children wait at least 2 years before they're willing to tell even 
family members. Why? Because we, as adults, have made it so harsh, so 
accusatory for the child. The child is in fact the defendant, the 
wronged person. And God forbid, don't accuse a famous adult, for then 
you are completely maligned, thrown on the trash heap of life.

                              {time}  1100

  The boys that Mr. Sandusky was accused of acting against happened to 
be vulnerable children, vulnerable families, at-risk children, parents, 
single mothers, who were looking for a male role model. Isn't that 
allowed in America?
  Aren't we familiar with raising that impoverished child up and giving 
the opportunity to be raised up by their bootstraps, getting some 
wonderful male role model, in the instance of girls, a woman role 
model? Isn't that the American way, that everybody has a door open to 
the greatest country in the world?
  But that trust was violated, and those children now, basically 
grownups, did not survive and will not survive the mental conditions 
that they will be subjected to.
  Mr. Speaker, as I close, let me say that children have died because 
of child sexual abuse. Join me in supporting this legislation to be 
able to say zero tolerance for the cover up of sexual abuse of 
children. It's a pox on our house. Where are the children's lobbyists? 
We must be that lobbyist.


                     Child Sexual Abuse Statistics

  Although child sexual abuse is reported almost 90,000 times a year, 
the numbers of unreported abuse greater because the children are afraid 
to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure for 
validating an episode is difficult (American Academy of Child & 
Adolescent Psychiatry, 2004).
  It is estimated that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will have 
experienced an episode of sexual abuse while younger than 18 years. The 
numbers of boys affected may be falsely low because of reporting 
techniques (Botash, Ann, MD, Pediatric Annual, May, 1997).
  Sixty-seven percent of all victims of sexual assault reported to law 
enforcement agencies were juveniles (under the age of 18); 34 percent 
of all victims were under age 12. One of every seven victims of sexual 
assault reported to law enforcement agencies were under 6. Forty 
percent of the offenders who victimized children under age 6 were 
juveniles (under the age of 18). (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000).
  Most children are abused by someone they know and trust, although 
boys are more likely than girls to be abused outside of the family. A 
study in three states found 96 percent of reported rape survivors under 
age 12 knew the attacker. Four percent of the offenders were strangers, 
20 percent were fathers, 16 percent were relatives and 50 percent were 
acquaintances or friends (Advocates for Youth, 1995).


                                Overview

  Child sexual abuse has been at the center of unprecedented public 
attention during the last decade. All fifty states and the District of 
Columbia have enacted statutes identifying child sexual abuse as 
criminal behavior (Whitcomb, 1986). This crime encompasses different 
types of sexual activity, including voyeurism, sexual dialogue, 
fondling, touching of the genitals, vaginal, anal, or oral rape and 
forcing children to participate in pornography or prostitution.


                          Child Sexual Abusers

  Perpetrators of child sexual abuse come from different age groups, 
genders, races and

[[Page H8739]]

socio-economic backgrounds. Women sexually abuse children, although not 
as frequently as men, and juvenile perpetrators comprise as many as 
one-third of the offenders (Finkelhor, 1994). One common denominator is 
that victims frequently know and trust their abusers.
  Child abusers coerce children by offering attention or gifts, 
manipulating or threatening their victims, using aggression or 
employing a combination of these tactics. ``[D]ata indicate that child 
molesters are frequently aggressive. Of 250 child victims studied by 
DeFrancis, 50 percent experienced physical force, such as being held 
down, struck, or shaken violently'' (Becker, 1994).


                       Child Sexual Abuse Victims

  Studies have not found differences in the prevalence of child sexual 
abuse among different social classes or races. However, parental 
inadequacy, unavailability, conflict and a poor parent-child 
relationship are among the characteristics that distinguish children at 
risk of being sexually abused (Finkelhor, 1994). According to the Third 
National Incidence Study, girls are sexually abused three times more 
often than boys, whereas boys are more likely to die or be seriously 
injured from their abuse (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996). Both boys and 
girls are most vulnerable to abuse between the ages of 7 and 13 
(Finkelhor, 1994).


                                 Incest

  Incest traditionally describes sexual abuse in which the perpetrator 
and victim are related by blood. However, incest can also refer to 
cases where the perpetrator and victim are emotionally connected 
(Crnich & Crnich, 1992). ``[I]ntrafamily perpetrators constitute from 
one-third to one-half of all perpetrators against girls and only about 
one-tenth to one-fifth of all perpetrators against boys. There is no 
question that intrafamily abuse is more likely to go on over a longer 
period of time and in some of its forms, particularly parent-child 
abuse, has been shown to have more serious consequences'' (Finkelhor, 
1994).


                     Symptoms of Child Sexual Abuse

  Many sexually abused children exhibit physical, behavioral and 
emotional symptoms. Some physical signs are pain or irritation to the 
genital area, vaginal or penile discharge and difficulty with 
urination. Victims of known assailants may experience less physical 
trauma because such injuries might attract suspicion (Hammerschlag, 
1996).
  Behavioral changes often precede physical symptoms as the first 
indicators of sexual abuse (American Humane Association Children's 
Division, 1993). Behavioral signs include nervous or aggressive 
behavior toward adults, sexual provocativeness before an appropriate 
age and the use of alcohol and other drugs. Boys ``are more likely than 
girls to act out in aggressive and antisocial ways as a result of 
abuse'' (Finkelhor, 1994). Children may say such things as, ``My 
mother's boyfriend does things to me when she's not there,'' or ``I'm 
afraid to go home tonight.''


                   Consequences of Child Sexual Abuse

  Consequences of child sexual abuse range ``from chronic depression to 
low self-esteem to sexual dysfunction to multiple personalities. A 
fifth of all victims develop serious long-term psychological problems, 
according to the American Medical Association. These may include 
dissociative responses and other signs of posttraumatic-stress syndrome 
[sic], chronic states of arousal, nightmares, flashbacks, venereal 
disease and anxiety over sex or exposure of the body during medical 
exams'' (``Child Sexual Abuse . . .,'' 1993).


                           Cycle of Violence

  Children who are abused or neglected are more likely to become 
criminal offenders as adults. A National Institute of Justice study 
found ``that childhood abuse increased the odds of future delinquency 
and adult criminality overall by 40 percent'' (Widom, 1992). Child 
sexual abuse victims are also at risk of becoming ensnared in this 
cycle of violence. One expert estimates that forty percent of sexual 
abusers were sexually abused as children (Vanderbilt, 1992). In 
addition, victims of child sexual abuse are 27.7 times more likely to 
be arrested for prostitution as adults than non-victims. (Widom, 1995). 
Some victims become sexual abusers or prostitutes because they have a 
difficult time relating to others except on sexual terms.

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