Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Contributors to Volume IV
- Introduction to Volume IV
- Part I Race, Religion and Nationalism
- Part II Intimate and Gendered Violence
- 7 A Global History of Sexual Violence
- 8 Sexual Violence against Children: A Global Perspective
- 9 Homicide in a Global Perspective: Between Marginalisation and Resurgence
- 10 Violence and Sport, 1800–2000
- Part III Warfare, Colonialism and Empire in the Modern World
- Part IV The State, Revolution and Social Change
- Part V Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
8 - Sexual Violence against Children: A Global Perspective
from Part II - Intimate and Gendered Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Maps
- Contributors to Volume IV
- Introduction to Volume IV
- Part I Race, Religion and Nationalism
- Part II Intimate and Gendered Violence
- 7 A Global History of Sexual Violence
- 8 Sexual Violence against Children: A Global Perspective
- 9 Homicide in a Global Perspective: Between Marginalisation and Resurgence
- 10 Violence and Sport, 1800–2000
- Part III Warfare, Colonialism and Empire in the Modern World
- Part IV The State, Revolution and Social Change
- Part V Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
Summary
Though attitudes towards sexual violence shift and change over time and place, across the past two hundred years child sexual abuse has predominantly been viewed as a heinous crime. Nonetheless, there were many variations on what constituted sexual assault, and how this was understood in the community. An act that might be a heinous crime in one time period or one region may be legally and socially acceptable in another. This chapter will chart a range of attitudes and responses towards child sexual abuse. It argues that children have long been seen as vulnerable to sexual assault, which was understood as morally problematic and often a criminal offence. Yet despite significant social and legal change, state and community practices have failed to solve the problem of vulnerable children, and sexual assault of minors continues to be an issue across the globe.
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- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 168 - 186Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020