If your child was sexually abused, the most important thing to do is not ignore it. You have to deal with it. It’s a horrible thing, it really is. But the worst thing you can do is to try and forget about it and to tell your child to forget about it because they’re not. You know, you may get them to not talk about it now, but later in their lives it’s gonna come out in really bad and inconvenient ways. And so, you take it head on and what you do is you get help. You know, you go to professionals, you get your child therapy, you get your family therapy. You go to the police authorities, absolutely. It’s a crime, it should be reported. And then, you may want to take civil action. You may want to talk to someone who can help you through the civil process and hold the institution, hold the perpetrator accountable. If something bad happened to your child, you want to validate that that bad thing, that it was a bad thing and you want to empower your child to get help.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by an attorney at Herman Law, with legal experience in helping victims of sexual abuse.
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