In recent years the recognition of child abuse has increased in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. Child abuse is defined as harm to or the neglect of a child by another person, whether one is an adult or a child. A child can either experience physical, psychological or sexual abuse. These types of abuse are defined by Hobbs and colleagues as follows: a physically abused child is any child who receives physical injury (or injuries) as a result of acts (or omissions) on the part of his parents or guardians; psychological abuse is defined as the actual or severe adverse effects on the emotional and behavioural development of the child caused by persistent or severe emotional ill treatment or rejection. Sexual abuse, which is the main focus of this essay, is the most commonly reported case of abuse, it is defined by Dutton as any unwanted sexual intimacy forced on one by another. It may include oral, anal, or vaginal stimulation or penetration, forced nudity, forced exposure to sexually explicit material or activity, or any other unwanted sexual activity. The abuser most often uses incentives or physical force to obtain compliance.
Sexual abuse can be found in many homes like in a single parent family where the mother may be dependent on a man who abuses the child. A study done by Jamaica's Situational Analysis found that 60% of the cases reported entailed an unemployed single parent dependent on the same man who is abusing their child. This abuse can also take place in a nuclear family through incest where a family member would abuse the other. In Jamaica the statistics from the Ministry of Health's annual report of 2001 showed 306 reported cases of sexual abuse of child and 40 cases of incestuous abuse. Most of these cases are believed to be under-reported mainly because of the fear to speak out. .
Sexual abuse is very traumatic for a child and it also damages them psychologically and can adversely affect later sexual behaviour starting a chain of abuse by passing it on to their child or other children.