May 18th was established as the “National Day to Combat Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents”. This date was chosen in reference to the case of an 8-year-old girl who, in 1973, was kidnapped, raped and brutally murdered by young people from the upper middle class. More than 40 years have passed and, unfortunately, situations like this still occur frequently today.
O Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (CEPS) chose the week of the 18th to develop awareness and combat activities against sexual violence against children and adolescents. Educational videos and games were used with pregnant women, mothers, fathers and children attended by the service, in Macaíba-RN. The actions were carried out in the hall of the Center's main building and are part of a broad campaign promoted by the city hall.
This topic is of great relevance to CEPS, within its scope of maternal and child health care.
Since June 2016, the Center has operated, in partnership with Public Health Secretariat of the State of Rio Grande do Norte O Reference Service for Care for Children, Adolescents and Women Victims of Sexual Violence. This service was created to guarantee comprehensive care to victims of sexual violence, assisting in assistance and appropriate referrals within the network of actors involved. It is also promoted Permanent Education in the area of prevention It is assistance to women who suffer sexual violence, aimed at professionals who make up the health care, education, social assistance and public safety network in the municipality of Macaíba.
The CEPS Reference Service welcomes and responds to the necessary demands of all cases of violence that arrive on weekdays, between 8am and 5pm. At night and on weekends, service is provided by Emergency Care Unit (UPA) Aluísio Alves, which subsequently forwards the case to CEPS.
Macaíba has one of the higher rates of sexual and domestic violence against women in the state of RN, many of these cases involve children. Although the number of records is lower than the number of occurrences, the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) of the municipality showed an increase in 170% in notifications carried out in 2016, compared to those in 2015. Of these, 66% were with girls under ten years of age.
Characteristics and consequences of sexual violence
CEPS psychologist and coordinator of the Reference Service for Care for Children, Adolescents and Women Victims of Sexual Violence, Carla Glenda Souza da Silva, explains that sexual violence can include touching, caressing, oral sex or penetrative relationships (digital, genital or anal). However, “sexual abuse also includes situations in which there is no physical contact, such as voyeurism, harassment, exposure to sexual images or events, pornography and exhibitionism”, explains Carla. In most situations, abuse is carried out by people close to the child or adolescent, who play a role of caregiver or responsible for them.
The consequences of experiencing sexual abuse can affect the cognitive, affective and social development of the victim in different ways and intensity. There are frequent reports of anxiety, eating and dissociative disorders, depression, hyperactivity, attention deficit and post-traumatic stress. The latter prevails in around 50% of victims.
Possible changes caused by sexual abuse:
- Behavioral: hypersexualized conduct, substance abuse, running away from home, theft, social isolation, aggression, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, self-destructive behaviors (self-harming and attempting suicide);
- Cognitive: low concentration and attention, dissociation, refuge in fantasy, low academic performance and distorted beliefs, such as the perception that one is to blame for the abuse, difference in relation to peers, distrust and perception of inferiority and inadequacy;
- Emotional: fear, shame, guilt, anxiety, sadness, anger and irritation.
If you know of or have contact with any case of sexual violence against women, children or adolescents, break the silence and report it, dial 100.
