Effects of Child Abuse

According to the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse, there are over 42-million survivors of sexual abuse in America.

However, a big percentage of victims won't tell anyone about the abuse, making it one of the most under reported crimes of the century.

There are many reasons why victims of child abuse remain silent.

A local victim of sexual abuse says she has always feared of telling anyone and says it has affected her all her life.

The abuse started with her younger sisters when she was eight-years-old and her youngest sister was five.

Even though the woman tries to block out the incident, she still remembers the horrific abuse from her father.

The abuse continued for over six years.

The FBI states that in the U.S. alone only one in ten cases of sexual abuse is reported to the police, making it one of the most under reported crimes.

Being a 33-year-old victim, the women still struggles to understand, why it happened and who would want to cause such psychological problems?

The mother has found a positive in the situation by educating her daughters on what is correct and not and letting them know where they can get help.

Dr. Armando Garza, who's worked on cases with the Child's Advocacy Center advises parents to talk to their kids about sexual abuse the minute the child starts talking and understanding, usually at one or two years old.

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Garza says the majority of the cases he sees in Laredo are sexual abuse and 80 percent of the time the alleged perpetrator is a family member or someone well known to the family.