Hi Puzz,

Fascinating study and a well written report on it by you. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. I have some thoughts to share as well.

"But in the absence of possible other explanations for why these results are as they are, they do suggest that it is possible that sexual abuse mitigates the effects of other forms of abuse/neglect that children experience."

First of all, it is fairly clear to me that the term "sexual abuse" is an umbrella term that serves only a legal function and not a communicative one. By catagorizing all forms of sexual interactions between adults and children as "abuse" rather than basing the designation on outcome based criteria, the legal system deliberately clouds the issue in a manner that does not allow for the existence of positive outcomes. It is hard to study something that legally does not exist. It is also not very likely that studies based on false premises would yield accurate results.

Therefore, I would NOT say that sexual abuse mitigates anything. It is a form of abuse which is akin to rape. However, consensual, age appropriate sexual activity between adults, and children who are experienceing genuine abuse, is intimacy desired by both persons. It CANNOT be abuse; at least in the mind of such a child. So, more accurately IMO, we would have to think this study indicates that negative experiences are being mitigated by positive ones. This should not be very surprising to anyone.

But why would sexual intimacy seem to comfort a child who is experiencing some form of abuse? I can recall many times when I have witnessed nervous, anxious, or tired children mastubating. This is indicative to me, that one of the uses kids have for their sexuality, is to mitigate against outside discomforts. I wonder if there is a correlation between this observable behavior in children and the possibility that stimulating the genitalia ameliorates the trauma of physical or emotional abuse and neglect.

Perhaps it would be wise to actually separate neglect and abuse for a minute. They are after all, two separate dynamics. Neglected children are starved for attention. I think a loving adult who caresses and touches a child in a manner that makes him or her feel good is feeding that need. The most intimate and personal attention one can give to any person is body to body contact. Only societies' negative reactions to the child experiencing sexual pleasure would stand in the way of a positive result.

Physical and emotional abuse, on the other hand, is something bad that is done to the child. It is attention but of the negative sort. There is pain in the child and a desire for the hurting to go away. Once again, age appropriate sexual activity, which children use in a solitary fashion when left to their own devices, may be a natural medicine which soothes that pain.

So on the one hand, we have a child's natural sexuality being used as a "warm fuzzy", e.g. major influx of attention, when s/he is not being cared for, and on the other hand, as a counter-balance to pain when the attention received is abusive and inappropriate.

It should be obvious to everyone that nature does not give living things attributes that they are not suppose to use. The juvenile sex drive needs to be studied, validated, and legalized, so that children can receive the benefits intended by nature for this attribute. Perhaps this study may cause some researchers to experience an epiphany of sorts, and begin to rethink their attitudes concerning natural vs. perverse. Repression, prohibition, and unconditional outlawing of our children's sex drive is REAL sexual abuse; for it denies children a natual part of their personhood.

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