Home & Garden46 mins ago
Sexual or emotional abuse?
My stepdad used to watch me in the bath through a gap between the doorframes and I was too scared to move andget up and confront him about it. It happened for several months. So was that sexual or emotional abuse? I know that may sound like a silly question but he never touched me so maybe it wouldn't be called sexual abuse, but he never said anything to me about it so it wouldn't be called emotional abuse. Help?
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I think sexual abuse, though in a minor way - sorry, don't mean to belittle it, but sexual abuse comes in much worse varieties. You don't say how long ago this happened, or how old you were, but presumably it still preys on your mind a bit or you wouldn't have asked this question.
I don't think you will actually forget it, it's more a matter of putting it into proportion: it was one of thousands of things that happened to you while you were growing up. It may have left some mark on you (you're a bit wary of men perhaps? don't like being watched? shut the door tight before getting undressed?) but if this isn't impeding your life, then it suggests you've got over it for all practical purposes.
If it is impeding your life, counselling might help; but only you can decide if it's still causing you real problems that need addressing. But as mycatis says, the main thing to be aware of is that you've done nothing wrong.
A bit of both really...
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape or *******) or non-penetrative acts. They may include involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child causing severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's emotional development, often by making them feel they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person, age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children, causing children frequently to feel frightened, or the exploitation or corruption of children.