What is abuse?

Know your state’s law for specific wording and definition of what constitutes abuse to children and youth. Abuse may include:

Physical abuse
This is abuse in which a person deliberately and intentionally causes bodily harm to a youth or young child. Examples may include violent battery with a weapon (such as a knife or belt), burning, choking, fracturing bones, and other nonaccidental injuries. (Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, page 15)

Emotional abuse
This is abuse in which a person exposes a youth or younger child to spoken and/or unspoken violence or emotional cruelty. Emotional abuse sends a message to the youth or child that they are worthless, bad, unloved, and undeserving of love and care. Youth and children exposed to emotional abuse may have experienced being deprived of all parental affection, being locked in closets or other confining spaces, being incessantly told they are bad, or being forced to abuse alcohol or illegal drugs. This type of abuse is difficult to prove and is devastating to the victim. (Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, page 15)

Neglect
This is abuse in which a person endangers a youth’s or child’s health, welfare, and safety through negligence. It may include withholding food, medical care, affection, and even education to destroy the youth’s or child’s sense of self-esteem and self-worth. Neglect may well be the most common form of abuse. Although it is often difficult to prove, reports of neglect from teenagers or children should not be ignored. (Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, page 16)

Sexual abuse
This type of abuse occurs when sexual contact between a youth, child and an adult (or older, more powerful youth or child) happens. The youth or child victim is not capable of consenting to such contact or resisting such sexual acts. Often, the youth or child victim is physically dependent on the perpetrator (for example, a parent). Additionally, the youth victim is often psychologically dependent on the perpetrator (for example, a teacher or a youth minister). Examples of sexual abuse include fondling, intercourse, incest, and the exploitation of and exposure to pornography and/or prostitution. (Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, page 16)

Ritual abuse
This is abuse in which physical, sexual, or psychological violence is inflicted on a youth, intentionally and in a stylized way, by someone (or multiple people) with responsibility of the victim’s welfare. Typically, the perpetrator appeals to some higher authority or power or justify his or her abuses. Examples of ritual abuse may include cruel treatment or animals or repetitious threats of sexual or physical violence to the youth or child victim or to people related to the youth or child victim. When reports of ritual abuse are made, they are often extremely horrifying. Such reports may even seem too gruesome to be true. However, any youth or child making such a report must not be ignored. (Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, page 16)