What is child sexual abuse?
"Basically, sexual abuse includes any touching by an adult of a child's body when the adult's purpose or motive for touching is to arouse or gratify the adult's sexual desire. To put it in other words, sexual abuse is touching for sexual purpose. Obvious examples of sexual abuse include sexual intercourse, kissing a little girl's genitals, sucking a boy's penis, and forcing a child to suck a man's penis (this applies to both genders).
Not all sexual abuse involves a child's genitals, buttocks or breasts. Kissing on the mouth or other body parts is abusive if the adult's motive is sexual. Moreover, touching through a child's clothing can be as abusive as touching bare skin. Thus it can be sexual abuse to touch a little girl's breast through her blouse or the little boy's penis through his pants.
In summary, any touching, anywhere on the child's body is abuse when the adult's motive is sexual. Additionally abuse occurs when a child touches an adult's body in response to the adults request if the adults motive is sexual gratification.
Sexual touching is not the only kind of child sexual abuse. It's abuse to expose a child to pornography or to use a child in the production of pornography. Thus, it is abuse to take indecent photographs or videos of children. An adult commits abuse when he persuades two children to engage in sex with each other. Abuse occurs when an adult masturbates knowing a child is watching. The exhibitionist lurking next to the schoolyard and the peeping Tom at the bedroom window are child abusers."
Sexual abuse described by Meyers (in Aucamp, 2007:8)
