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	On the first day of school term, 11-year-old &#39;Billy&#39; is asked to look after the new baby infants at break-time in the playground.</p>
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	For some reason Billy, who has no history of sexual abuse, has become preoccupied with sexual issues.</p>
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	When the bell rings he leads the new class out into the yard to play games.</p>
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	Alone with the class Billy sees an opportunity to take a child away and engage in &quot;touching or exploring and doing things&quot;.</p>
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	This type of worrying scenario is - according to Mary Flaherty, the CEO of Children at Risk Ireland - one the group has begun to encounter in its work supporting the families and groups affected by child sexual abuse.</p>
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	And she warns parents, guardians and teachers have to &quot;think the unthinkable&quot; to protect their children and pupils.</p>
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	She told the Sunday Independent: &quot;That would be a very simple and easy scenario. You have a child who is in the throes of some sexual fixation or obsession and they take this opportunity to act on it and it&#39;s as simple as that.&quot;</p>
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	Although expressing some sexual behaviour is normal for under-12s - including &quot;playing doctor&quot;, kissing, flirting, occasional masturbation and reproduction conversation with peers and siblings - if there is any element of force, obsession, or degradation it is considered an early flag by experts.</p>
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	Over the past few years, CARI has noticed some worrying Helpline trends.</p>
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	These include a horrific rise in rape and sexual assault cases, particularly &quot;teen on teen,&quot; and a &quot;huge jump&quot; in sexualised behaviour calls where the child has no history of sexual abuse.</p>
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	And, over the last number of year, the Helpline has noted that teenage activity has moved beyond the level of sexualised behaviour and would be described as sexual assault and rape.</p>
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	For Ms Flaherty, the findings highlight the direct dangers of exposing children to a &quot;hyper sexualised society&quot;.</p>
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	&quot;We&#39;ve gone too far with sexualisation as human subjects who require our individual dignity and the full range of a person,&quot; she said, adding that victims are often told to &quot;keep it our little secret,&quot; just like in an adult situation.</p>
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	Other times, the victim might actually think the offender is their friend and is being supportive.</p>
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	&quot;It can even occur between brother and sister where an older child with a sexual behaviour problem can seek out a younger one, impose their will and take advantage,&quot; she said, adding that the loss of religion is another &quot;major inhibitor&quot; in how children view sex and human senses.</p>
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	&quot;The power of church has waned certainly for the majority of young children and young people almost to the point where it would be a negative, it would be advice that you wouldn&#39;t take.&quot;</p>
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	Although there is no doubt that sexual abuse leaves &quot;deep psychological marks&quot; on the victims - and sometimes the perpetrators - if not responded to with skilled therapy, parents and teachers can also be hugely affected.</p>
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	&quot;There is upset, guilt, failure, how do you manage the family and school community, how do you respond and regrettably many communities, even families, don&#39;t accept it or think, &#39;she&#39;s making it up&#39;.</p>
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	&quot;Society is still not good for today&#39;s victims, and it&#39;s not in institutions, it&#39;s in the communities, schools and sometimes in families themselves where victims aren&#39;t heard.&quot;</p>
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	CARI will host a training event for families of children who display sexually harmful behaviour in Dublin on February 26 and 27.</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/sometimes-child-victims-think-the-abuser-is-actually-their-friend-30973448.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/sometimes-child-victims-think-the-abuser-is-actually-their-friend-30973448.html</a></p>
