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In Reply to: a sad tale to tell... posted by susie on December 10, 2003 at 17:12:09:
Thanks for sharing your story.
Sexual abuse by older siblings (which includes cousins) is actually more common than abuse by adult family members and friends, but not as widely recognized by parents and professionals as abuse. It tends to be dismissed as "normal" sexplay between peers.
When there is a 5 year age difference, the children are not peers. But even when the children are peers, there are characteristics of the abusive interaction that distinguish it from consensual sexplay among peers. Coersion, intimidation, and exploitation are significant characteristics of abuse regardless of age.
People, please pay attention to Susie's story: When kids go "out of control" in early adolescence and turn up pregnant at 15, there's a very good chance they are acting out their abuse issues. Telling these kids to "just say no" to premarital sex isn't going to do a lot for them--they are often too confused about physical and emotional boundaries to understand why they should try to say "no" in the first place or what difference it would make if they did.
