ABSTRACT
In the last decade, there has been a gradual accumulation of empirical evidence indicating that a history of child sexual abuse is associated with considerable mental health and adjustment problems in adulthood, long after the abuse itself has stopped (Bagley and Ramsay, 1986; Finkelhor, 1984; Fromuth, 1986). There are a number of factors in childhood which are relevant to the development and severity of these problems (Browne and Finkelhor, 1986; Lister, 1982; Russell, 1986). These include:
Traumatic sexualization (Brown and Finkelhor, 1986) This occurs when a child is subjected to sexual activity. Consequently she develops misconceptions about sexual behaviour and norms, learns to associate sexual activity with negative feelings and may confuse sex with love and affection.
