Child-on-Child Sexual Abuse (COCSA)

What is COCSA?

Child-on-child sexual abuse refers to instances where a minor engages in sexual activities with another minor. This form of abuse can manifest in various ways, and the struggles associated with it include:

• Power Imbalance: Despite both individuals being minors, there may still be a significant power imbalance, making it difficult for the victim to assert themselves.

• Impact on Development: Child-on-child sexual abuse can have profound effects on the emotional, psychological, and social development of both the victim and the perpetrator.

• Secrecy and Shame: Victims often experience feelings of shame and guilt, and the secrecy surrounding the abuse can hinder their ability to seek help or disclose the situation.

It’s important to note that child-on-child sexual abuse is a complex issue, and addressing it requires sensitivity, support, and intervention from appropriate professionals.

Conversations and Culture Around COCSA

COCSA is a very intense subject and one that needs to be discussed. Unfortunately, society has pushed it under the rug due to its complexity and people’s general discomfort with the topic. 

Here are just a few of the reasons that COCSA can be complex compared to other sexual abuse cases – both for victims, perpetrators, and others in the children’s lives…

TRIGGER WARNING: The following talks about reasons why perpetrators of SA in these specific COCSA scenarios might not be fully to blame. This could be incredibly triggering. Please read only when stable and ready. Remember this ONLY applies to specific scenarios and is very specific to COCSA – most of the scenarios we’re discussing are likely to happen during very young (4-10) ages, potentially by children who are victims themselves of adults who are abusing them.

• It’s common for there not to be a clear “bad guy” in comparison to non-COCSA SA cases. Often, the child perpetrator has been a victim themselves by an adult in their life and is acting on what they’ve learned. 
• If the child is extremely young, they might not know what they are doing is wrong. They may also not know how to gauge others’ reactions to determine when someone is uncomfortable, when they need to stop, or when they may be causing harm to someone.
• The child perpetrator may be forced or coerced by an adult to carry out the sexual abuse, perhaps to create child-on-child pornography or otherwise please the adult.

None of this means that the victim of COCSA is ever wrong in being angry or blaming their abuser.

TRIGGER WARNING SECTION OVER

Sources:

• Fergusson, D. M., Lynskey, M. T., & Horwood, L. J. (1996). Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: II. Psychiatric outcomes of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(10), 1365-1374.
• Kendall-Tackett, K., Williams, L., & Finkelhor, D. (1993). Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychological Bulletin, 113(1), 164-180.