Knowing these stages of development will help you notice if something doesn’t seem right, which might indicate a problem. It’s important to know what’s natural and healthy in kids’ sexual development (for example, many young children are curious about sexuality and frequently play with their private body parts). These changes might not be dramatic, but could include several subtle changes. Unusual, persistent, or developmentally inappropriate questioning about human sexuality.Frequent drawings that have sexual content.Persistent sex play with friends, toys, or pets.Excessive play with their own private body parts.Self-mutilation or careless behaviors resulting in self-harm.Changes in quality of schoolwork or grades.Sudden, unexplained fears of certain places or kinds of people (such as all people with a particular feature or characteristic).Fear of being alone with a certain person.Acting younger or going back to doing younger tasks and activities.These are some behaviors that could mean your child has experienced sexual abuse or another trauma: Behavioral SignsĬhild sexual abuse survivor Melisa describes her cries for help that just seemed like bad behavior: But it’s important to be alert to these signs, figure out why they’re happening, and get your child help.

Many of these changes aren’t specific to sexual abuse-they can happen with other kinds of trauma or stress, and they can vary by age. Kids often don’t tell about sexual abuse ( read about why), but sometimes they’ll display behavioral, physical, and emotional changes.

Signs of sexual trauma in children