Teen sexual abuse can affect a person by giving them diseases, pregnancy, and can have them want to do harm to themselves. Sexual abuse can be many different things other than rape. Sexual acts happening to you without your will can be known as sexual abuse. Teen sexual abuse can affect some one’s life in all aspects during and after.

To keep teens from hiding things such as being sexually abused, they have to know that there are people who will help. Teen health states, “It takes a lot of courage to admit being abused; let your friend know that you’re offering your full support.”

Katherine was affected with sexual acts being done to her against her will. She couldn’t trust anyone and started closing herself off. She was afraid to tell her parents, the first time she did they didn’t believe her. The second time she told them there wasn’t much to do. Even after a year has gone by it’s hard for her to hang with her guy friends afraid of anything happening. It is still hard for her to trust people easily. Life is different for Katherine than it was before.

“Healthy relationships involve respect, trust, and consideration for the other person. Sadly, some relationships can turn bad,” teen health states. “The first step in getting out of an abusive relationship is to realize that you have to be treated with respect and not be physically or emotionally harmed by another person.” Without be treated with respect, many things can lead up to bad things. If you aren’t being treated respectfully get out of the relationship that you are in. Mary Purpari says, “Sexual assault can be devastating experience that can destroy our life, but the emotional pain can be overcome with patience and time”

So many people are afraid to tell people because they believe they will get judged, be embarrasses, or have no one believe them. When people don’t tell anyone about sexual abuse happening you sometimes can get results, like suicide. “Suicide prevention specialists say that young people are especially prone to thought of killing themselves,” specified Mike Tolson.

A girl named Ashley killed herself after being sexually abused. Her friend Ashly says, “She said Police and CPS acted like it was nothing. She said it was like they did not want to believe her.”

Mike Tolson also states that “...the sexual abuse that she said ruined what should have been some of the best years of her life, her inability to see justice done on her behalf. Then she killed herself”. Having people be abused and people not believe them can cause to more harmful things.

A girl named Mary told someone when it happened to her and she says, “I was the first woman to actually take him to court; I won my case and he now has criminal charges on his record.”

Even though she physically got it taken care of, emotionally it still affects her. “9 years have already passed since my experience, and I still have the occasional nightmare,” Mary says.

According to Teen Health, They say people who are abused often feel like it’s their fault- that they “asked for it” or that they don’t deserve any better. But abuse is never deserved.

Sexual abuse, in general, is not right. It affects people physically and emotionally more than most people think. All aspects of sexual abuse should stop and have more people care and help out those who have been abused.