The Child Is Always the Victim – Yes, Even If He’s a Boy

When is abuse not abuse?

“Whether or not it seems fair, when adults and children have unforced sex, the child is always the victim.”
(from Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis, P. 6)

This is a quote from Kenneth Lanning, a retired FBI special agent whose area of expertise was the investigation of child sexual abuse. One of the very important things to note about this statement is that it is gender neutral.

In much of the reporting on sexual abuse or coercion involving male students and female teachers there is a glaring problem. The victimization of males is very often written about in terms that minimize and normalize the incident while downplaying the potential criminality of the perpetrator.

We are finally starting to see data that challenges the dominant paradigm that men are not victims, or are at best a trifling minority of the victims of sexual violence.  (more...)

The Child Is Always the Victim – Yes, Even If He’s a Boy