This is a hard subject for me to talk about because I'm a victim of sexual abuse by both a man and a woman.
I will not pretend to have any answer because the whole thing is beyond me and reading the replies on this thread proves that most people do not understand sexual predators and what animates them.
I understand that sexual predators are members of both genders and so that tells me that it isn't about sex or the lack of it.
I don't know what would take care of the problem but I know that pointing the finger at anything that moves isn't the answer and legalizing prostitution isn't either.
Europe has some countries where prostitution is legal and that hasn't help to curb or eliminate sexual abuse.
What I do know is that victims of sexual abuse must be taken seriously, listened to and helped, especially when they report it not long afterward and the abuser's identity is known by police.
As a victim, I feel that psychiatry and psychology has failed us, creating more sympathy for the abuser than for the abused.
I am sorry this happened to you. Thank you for speaking out. You have been heard. I too was abused by both genders. Sadly it creates another layer of issues for the victim to deal with.
If children are given the freedom, information and safety they need, they will often report. Too often though children are warned not to talk or experience so much guilt and shame over the abuse that they never tell anyone until years later.
All the abuser wants is silence. All the victims want is to be heard and believed. One of my abusers who WAS reported to the police, later had a job as a school crossing guard!!! Most likely that was before registries that might have excluded him from that job. But that never should have happened. Canada needs an open sexual offender registry like many other countries.
A few years ago I was invited by a class of medical students to speak to them about child sexual abuse. They said that in their entire 8 years or more of training they had only 1/2 hour of training into the issue. They clearly realized that was not enough and did something about it.
Believe me all my fellow students in my programs knew all about child sexual abuse. Each one of them heard me make presentations about all aspects of the issue. At least I knew they had a good basic knowledge of the issue that victims have to face
Thank you, MsLeeHM. I hope one day this problem will be solved so that children don't grow up carrying the mental scars that you, I and countless of other people are carrying because even if time heals all wounds, those wounds are there for life.