Child sexual abuse is currently considered a serious public health problem and one of the most serious forms of violence. According to world statistics, women are the main victims. As part of the typical behaviors of this type of abuse are the involvement of minors in child pornography, the handling of their private parts, oral contact or contact between the adult's genitals and those of the child, and intercourse. All this generally occurs through the use of force or taking advantage of the condition of ascendancy with respect to the victim, who does not want it, knows or is unaware of what is happening.

In general, this abuse occurs in the context closest to the infant, being abused preferably by men. According to data collected by UNICEF at the international level, about 120 million infants in at least 195 nations have suffered sexual abuse.

Estimates from the Council of Europe (CoE) organization reveal that one in five children has also suffered these abuses, of which between 75% and 85% knew who their aggressor had been. On the other hand, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the United States has reported that one in ten girls, as well as one in sixty-three boys, have also been abused. In Latin America, these figures amount to around 1.1 million sexually abused girls, between the ages of 15 and 20, according to revelations by UNICEF.

This same international organization has pointed out various reasons that apparently lead victims to hide the abuse they have suffered, for example: threats directed at the child or their relatives; the fear of being discredited; the shame; disbelief and distrust in justice, among others. According to research on this topic, those who have been sexually abused or experienced various forms of mistreatment are generally four times more likely to have personality disorders. However, the psychological repercussions go further and are sometimes triggered in later stages of development. Among the most affected areas is that of interpersonal relationships, when problems begin to establish relationships with others, the person tends to isolate himself socially, participating very little in community activities, imbalances with the couple begin to exist, conflicts in the education of the children, etc. Other studies have shown that behavioral problems usually appear, with tendencies to present risks of running away from home or committing crimes. Functional or physical problems also occur in the abused, for example, fibromyalgia, headaches, eating and dissociative disorders, epilepsy due to high stress, somatization disorders, gynecological disorders, among others, all of these affecting expenses for hospital services. In the same way, disorders related to substance abuse or sexual problems also appear, that is, dysfunctional or unsatisfactory sexuality, risky sexual behavior, polygamy, acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases, early motherhood, prostitution, etc.

The aforementioned leads to the determination that those who are victims of sexual abuse tend to develop long-term psychological trauma. In addition, other investigative works have confirmed that this type of abuse is established as one of the causes of mortality in adulthood, or of the development of interpersonal violence, emotional imbalance and an increase in psychopathologies. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), disorders related to sexual abuse often trigger symptoms such as escape from stimuli linked to the event, variations at the cognitive level and the maintenance of a permanent state of alertness. Others agree that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the appearance of depression and anxiety, are frequent, which do not disappear over time if the appropriate psychological treatments are not applied.

For the above reasons, to treat this problem, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has been used frequently, a practice that has shown the reduction of symptoms after several weeks of trauma treatment. Other therapies used are Cognitive Processing to assimilate and gradually recover from the trauma; Cognitive Restructuring or the Prolonged Exposure technique, bringing the patient closer to his fears related to the traumatic experience, estimating that by facing it, the symptoms and emotional discomfort can be reduced. However, prevention and corresponding legal attention is also essential.