The Sexual Abuse Within the Family: A Violation of Personality Rigths of the Child and the Adolescent

Abstract

Personality rights of the child and the adolescent enjoy special protection provided by the Federal Constitution, the Statute of Children and Adolescents and the whole legal system. The reason for this protection is the vulnerability of children and adolescents, because they can suffer domestic violence, whether physical, psychological or sexual. Sexual abuse includes all conducts that stimulate the adult sexually, such as fondling, penetration by objects, masturbation, exhibitionism, sodomy, rape, etc. The charges of child sexual abuse may be false, featuring parental alienation. This is common in court cases that discuss child custody. Victims of sexual abuse and parental alienation may have sleep and feeding disorders, aggressive behavior, confusion about sexual identity, depression, thoughts of death, and a tendency to use alcohol and drugs associated with crime. The sexual abusers and the alienating parents must be held responsible by both the civil and criminal legal systems. State intervention is necessary to adopt other appropriate measures, such as the withdrawal of the offender from his home, the reversal of custody, the application of administrative penalties, and, in severe cases, the suspension or termination of parental authority. Finally, all actions of government agencies and the courts must be guided in the best interest of children and adolescents, in order to protect their personality.