As someone who was sexually abused at a very young age, I’ve noticed there are things about child sexual abuse that adults don’t realize FAST ENOUGH to take action. I haven't seen anyone else talking about it, so here are a few points:

1. If a child says “I don’t like him/her” or “they made me do something weird/did something weird to me” — PAY ATTENTION. Children don’t know how to explain what happened to them, and it’s uncomfortable for them to narrate the experience, all they know-

-is that “it felt wrong/bad” and that they didn’t like it. It’s up to us to understand that something's wrong.

2. TAKE THEM OUT OF THAT SITUATION IMMEDIATELY. Take them away from that person, make them feel SAFE, make sure they never have to see him/her again, tell them to talk to you if anything “weird” happens again. Be as involved as possible.

3. REPORT AND EXPOSE THE ABUSER. He/she must be legally penalized and the child needs to know that you are capable of taking action against the predator (this is very important because it encourages them to speak up more when they see something can be done about it)

4. NOTICE BEHAVIORAL SIGNS e.g if the child doesn’t want to be left alone with someone/doesn’t want to greet a certain person when they come over — big warning. Not to be taken lightly.

5. Other behavioral signs: sexual behavior inappropriate for the child’s age (e.g a 5 year old making her dolls do inappropriate things), bed-wetting or thumb-sucking esp if the child has already outgrown these behaviors, refusal to remove clothing to change or bathe

6. EMOTIONAL SIGNS: displaying excessive knowledge about sexual acts/body parts, excessive fear of being left alone (especially in certain places and not others), sudden over-protectiveness over their siblings

REMEMBER 93% of child sexual abusers are known to the child. Do not question a child who complains of someone doing something inappropriate to them, not even if it is a relative or close friend.

7. Other emotional signs that are less specific to sexual abuse: the sudden development of phobias, signs of depression or PTSD, expressing suicidal thoughts (especially in adolescents), suddenly having trouble in school (e.g absences or drops in grades)