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they do not fully comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent or
that violate the social taboos of family roles. Sexual abuse includes paedophilia, rape
and all forms of incest. These children are exploited in that they are robbed of their
deveIopmentally determined control over their own bodies and of sexual partners on
an equal basis. This is so whether the child has to deal with a single violent act of
rape, or incestuous acts which are repeated over many years. Under-reporting is
massive since families collude and cover up on matters of incest. Many cases only
come to light when the children become adults and have to handle the effects of
sexual abuse (Mc Kay 1983 : 24).
Studies have revealed that 75% of sexual abuse is committed by relatives and friends
of the children (Halperin 1979 & lones 1977). Nakashima & Zakus (1977) have found
that most cases of incest are father-daughter or stepfather-stepdaughter and that the
mother opts out of her wifely role and colludes in the incest by pushing her daughter
into the central female role in the home.
Incestuous families often seem to be stable and well functioning on the surface. Some
of the characteristics of the incestuous family are an early marriage of long duration,
many children, absence of acting-out behaviour by the children, absence of
extra-marital affairs, limited contacts with the outside world, a father who rigidly
controls his female children. Other families are multi-problem, with incest being just
one of the problems. In all these families there is a fear of disintegration and the
incest develops to maintain an equilibrium. There are no accurate figures on the
incidence of sexual abuse although it is increasingly being identified as a form of child
abuse (Mc Kay 1983 : 25).
(c) Emotional abuse
Kempe & Kempe (1978) were among the first to define emotional abuse as a form of
child abuse. This is the hardest form of abuse to identify. Giovannoni & Becarra
(1979) wrote that a child can be diagnosed as suffering serious emotional damage if
he exhibits severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or untoward aggressive behaviour