< previous | contents | next >
.
Ljubiša Rajić
Professor of Faculty of Philology in Belgrade
For me, sexual abuse of women is every violent and intended violation of physical of spiritual integrity of a woman, done consciously and with the intention of hurting the woman by severe or permanent bodily or spiritual injuries and their combination. By that I imply individual and group rape, forcing to sexual intercourse with a third person or an animal, rape by an object, bodily torture based on sexual basis no matter whether it is connected with the act of rape or not, forcing to prostitution, violent partly or total undressing or any other kind of serious violation of physical or psychological integrity the motive of which is in sexuality. I think that an extremely severe form of that violence is when it is done in spite of clear woman's resistance, or to a woman who is not conscious of hers or others' acts because she is, by her own will or by the will of others, drunk, drugged, anesthetized, under the influence of medication, or in any other way disabled to manifest physical or psychological resistance, or cannot do that because of mental retardation, disability, senility, some injury or some other similar state.
Sexual harassment for me is every act that cuts into physical and psychological integrity of a woman by pinching, touching, calling out, indecent offers, blackmailing and acts alike, but without inflicting injuries. Still, it is necessary to leave a free space for normal human meeting and establishing contact between the sexes and not to call it harassment. That line is not always clear nor can it be, and, in my opinion, is crossed only in case it is done against the woman's will or after a clear warning that the woman sees it as harassment. It is also important that a woman's right not to be sexually abused is not taken advantage of by false accusations, which harm women the most in the long run. Still, it is a matter of upbringing, education and legal norms.
I believe that a particularly serious kind of sexual abuse or harassment is when it is done by a person who has more physical strength so that the woman cannot defend herself, or holds a superior societal position as, e.g. boss towards employees, teacher towards pupils or students, person of special trust as, e.g. parent or cousin, or is a person whose duty is to protect people's health, such as doctor or psychologist, or rights of others, such as policeman, investigator, inspector, and in other cases alike. I see it as abuse when persons who have the official duty to help persons exposed to sexual abuse or harassment, disrespect or humiliate victims in the way they conduct investigation or provide help.
For me, child sexual abuse comprises everything that sexual abuse of grown woman does, only I see it as much worse, because a child is less able to recognise it and to oppose physically or psychologically, and physical and psychological consequences can be much more lasting. The main problem is that early child sexual maturing is not followed by appropriate cognitive maturing, while at the same time a child's sexuality is reinforced by commercials, show business, fashion and other manifestations that greatly erase the difference between children and adults. That is why child sexual abuse is not only a problem of individuals' pathological behavior, as in incest, rape of children, sexual torture and similar acts, but an accompanying consequence of developing of society that attributes characteristics of grown-ups to children. At the same time, it should be taken into consideration that in different historical periods, i.e. different societal groups within the same culture, as in different cultures as well, end of childhood and transition into adulthood are a matter of sexual norms and also societal norms, which is also a matter of upbringing, education and legal norms in a society.
