The case of young Yassin in Damanhour caused a major shock recently after he was sexually assaulted by an accountant working at his school. His mother filed multiple reports, which led to an investigation of the accountant. The case was subsequently referred to court, where a life sentence was handed down to the perpetrator.
This incident, along with similar cases shared on social media, has sparked anger and anxiety among families, drawing the attention of various institutions and alarming the community. It has created an urgent need for transparent dialogue on the presence of this phenomenon in our society and how to effectively eradicate it.
According to Samah Hussein, executive director of the Egyptian Association for Community Development, an NGO, “over the past eight years, we have worked on combating the five types of violence against children outlined in UN Conventions: physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, neglect, and exploitation. We have successfully rehabilitated around 20,000 children who were the victims of violence, along with their families. However, since 2017, we have chosen to focus most of our efforts on supporting children who are victims of sexual abuse.”
“Throughout our work with cases of violence against children, we noticed that many parents were reluctant to report sexual assaults on their children, viewing it as a stigma that could socially disgrace them. One of the key indicators of this reluctance was our discovery that 75 per cent of the children who had suffered sexual abuse came from families where one of the parents themselves had been victims of sexual abuse in their childhoods but had never reported it, a fact revealed during psychological support sessions for the parents while treating their children,” Hussein said.
“Many mothers admitted to having been sexually assaulted in the past, and some continue to suffer from its effects, receiving both psychological and medical treatment to this day,” she said.
“This reluctance to acknowledge past sexual abuse posed a significant challenge at the beginning of our work. In the first year, we set a goal to reach 4,000 cases, but we were only able to reach 500. We were faced with the challenge that sexual violence often remains hidden behind closed doors, unlike other forms of violence, making it more difficult to access cases.”
“It was essential to build trust with local communities and families, ensuring the confidentiality of information and respecting privacy, to make parents feel safe and encourage them to come forward and seek help,” she explained.
“Over time, we managed to build trust with families through cooperation with trusted community leaders in the areas where we operate. They helped us persuade families of the importance of reporting. Although schools where incidents of child sexual abuse had occurred initially refused to cooperate for fear of damaging their reputation, the situation began to improve when parents themselves started to contact us and share their experiences.”
“As our work continued, we expanded by partnering with the Child Helpline 16000 and activating the association’s website, which contributed to increasing the number of cases we received in the second year to more than 9,000, far surpassing the goal we had set.”
“However, despite the increase in reported cases, the majority of sexual abuse incidents still go unreported,” Hussein said.
“Parents’ fear of societal stigma prevents them from pursuing their children’s legal rights. For example, in one case we dealt with, a young girl was sexually assaulted by a school worker, and the parents decided to report it. During the investigation, it was revealed that other children had suffered similar assaults by the same person, but their families refused to report it due to the stigma that our society still attaches to victims of sexual assault.”
“Even the child’s family, who decided to stand up for their daughter, faced a wave of attacks from the perpetrator, his circles, and even from the school. The school took a defensive stance in favour of the employee and completely denied any wrongdoing. The school even refused to take any precautionary measures, such as removing the perpetrator from the school while the investigation was ongoing, considering that his removal would be seen as an admission of guilt, which could harm the school’s reputation.”
“The school’s administration even went so far as to file complaints against the parents, accusing them of financial extortion in an attempt to silence them.”
LEGAL ISSUES: “In addition to the psychological challenges, parents often face a complex legal battle that can further discourage them from reporting sexual assaults,” Hussein explained.
“The fear of legal claims and counter-allegations can be a significant factor deterring them from coming forward. In one case, we provided legal assistance to the parents of a girl who was assaulted and who faced false reports designed to intimidate them from reporting the incident, for example. This highlights the importance of support from legal and human rights institutions in following through with cases to ensure justice for the children, as well as protecting the family from any pressures they may face.”
“Legal support is not only limited to assisting the parents, as it can also be applied to remove the child from an abusive environment. In another case, we collaborated with the authorities to secure a court order placing a child, who had been assaulted by her father, into a care facility for psychological treatment, rather than allowing her to live with her mother. She had proven to be unfit to protect the child, especially owing to her disregarding the child’s complaint about the abuse,” Hussein said.
In addition to the societal and legal issues that parents may face, making them hesitate to speak out about the sexual assault their children may have endured, children also struggle to express what they have experienced.
“Children face great difficulty in talking about the sexual abuse they have been subjected to, not only because of their young age or fear, but also because they often do not understand the nature of what has happened to them or do not know how to describe it,” Hussein said.
“The effects of violence don’t always appear in the children’s words; often, we see them in their behaviour. The psychological assessments we have conducted on cases of children exposed to violence have revealed clear behavioural changes. Some children may express their suffering through aggressive actions like fighting with siblings or destroying others’ belongings, while others leave their homes and spend long hours on the streets. Some may suffer from issues like bedwetting.”
“We received the case of a young girl who suffered from insomnia and bedwetting, for example, and her parents couldn’t understand the cause. After several art therapy sessions, the picture became clearer. A child who has been abused often draws characters in a distorted manner or uses dark colours. Through subsequent psychological sessions, we discovered that she had been a victim of sexual abuse,” Hussein said.
“For this reason, the association uses art therapy, particularly drawing, as an effective tool to help children express painful experiences. Drawing, as a projective psychological tool, enables children who may be unable to describe what they have gone through with words to express it visually. Often, children’s drawings reveal shocking details, and they have provided evidence of abuse, making this method an essential part of our diagnostic and psychological support approach.”
“Alongside the therapy programme, there is an urgent need to retrain social workers and therapists in schools and institutions supporting child victims of sexual abuse. Training social workers can help them notice any behavioural changes in children and understand their causes. Additionally, this training will enable therapists to communicate effectively with children and create a safe space of trust, allowing the child to report any abuse they have faced or any issues they are encountering,” said Hussein.
She stressed that it is crucial for a psychologist to choose the right language when communicating with a child, ensuring that the conversation aligns with the child’s interests and personality. As the methods of interacting with children have evolved, simply using gentle words or making simple promises no longer suffices.
However, despite these changes in how children express themselves, some specialists may continue to rely on outdated methods of communication, often without considering the child’s individual personality or needs.
PSYCHOLOGY
Mohamed Aldeoshey, a clinical psychologist, said that psychotherapists can play a crucial role in supporting children emotionally and helping them cope with the traumatic experiences they have endured, especially in cases of physical or sexual violence.
In cases requiring legal intervention, it is the responsibility of both parents and therapists to take the necessary steps to ensure the child’s legal rights and protect them from further harm.
According to Aldeoshey, many parents make a grave mistake in failing to provide psychological treatment for their children after they have been subjected to sexual abuse. Sexual and physical assaults, no matter how mild, leave lasting impacts on the child, both physically and emotionally. These experiences cause significant emotional damage, which can manifest in symptoms such as depression, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and in more severe cases, may lead to self-harm or suicide.
He also pointed out that the aggressor typically targets the weakest child, the one who is silent, withdrawn, and unable to defend themselves, seeing them as the easiest prey. That is why parents should teach their children from a young age how to protect themselves and confidently say no in the face of any assault or harassment. Children must also understand that no one has the right to cross their personal boundaries and that they should immediately inform their parents or another trusted adult if they are exposed to any inappropriate situation.
Aldeoshey also stressed the importance of dedicating time to talk with the child, even if it is for just half an hour a day, whether through discussions about daily events or activities. These moments strengthen the relationship between the child and their parents, helping prevent feelings of loneliness or boredom due to a lack of ongoing communication.
Salma Al-Fawal, a child protection specialist at UNICEF Egypt, said that “while technology holds many opportunities for children, it is essential to monitor the child’s digital world. Children may encounter content that is inappropriate for their age, violent, or sexual in nature, which can have a deep psychological impact on their mental health and wellbeing that may not be immediately apparent but can influence them in the long run.”
She asserted the importance of keeping track of children’s online activity, whether through online games or on social media, as these digital platforms have become a new outlet for predators to reach children more easily with the purpose of exploiting them.
Many children may engage in interactions with adult strangers online who gradually attempt to build relationships and trust with them, exploiting their interests and personal details, ultimately turning these relationships into means of achieving material or sexual goals, all part of a phenomenon known as “grooming”.
“The problem is that many parents are unaware of the prevalence of this phenomenon, despite the fact that a recent incident involved a gang of three individuals targeting eight-year-old children through online games,” Al-Fawal said.
“In cases of children’s online exploitation, awareness, open communication, and early intervention by the family are essential to prevent the incident from happening and to protect the child from becoming a victim. This is especially true since sexual abuse does not typically occur suddenly but develops in stages, starting with the perpetrator gaining the child’s trust and gradually progressing to extorsion or blackmail, potentially escalating into sexual exploitation and abuse online or offline,” she added.
“Therefore, parents must create a safe space to have open conversations with their children, and they must always be diligent in identifying the individuals with whom their children build relationships and trust with online and offline. It is crucial to also be aware that in many cases the perpetrator may be someone close to the family, using the Internet to target and exploit the child, or even to blackmail the family.”
Hussein highlighted that many instances of sexual abuse may occur within the family or involve close acquaintances. This affirms the crucial need to educate children about their personal boundaries from an early age, she said. Such education should ideally begin as early as four, when children start to understand these concepts. Parents must ensure that their children recognise what is acceptable and what is not, offering guidance without instilling unnecessary fear.
RESPONSIBILITY
It is vital for parents to carefully monitor the individuals with whom their children form relationships, both offline and online, to protect them from potential harm that may arise from misplaced trust.
“It’s also crucial that children learn to change their clothes independently and never do so in front of others, and that they understand they should never go to the bathroom with another child or an adult. We’ve seen this firsthand in one case where a school elevator attendant was taking children to the bathroom, a situation that ultimately led to several assaults,” Hussein said.
“After parents, the responsibility shifts to community institutions, the media, and specialised organisations, all of which play a vital role in supporting children and engaging with them through platforms suited to their world. It is important to reach out to children in the spaces where they naturally spend time, such as schools, clubs, and community centres, ensuring that awareness extends not only to the children themselves but also to their parents, who can reinforce these lessons at home,” she added.
“Moreover, it is crucial to spread awareness across all segments of society, as such assaults occur across all layers, regardless of social or cultural class.”
Hussein advocates for the inclusion of a mandatory subject at all school levels called “self-protection”, which would teach children about what boundaries are acceptable and what are not. Despite the presence of a child-protection policy in schools, which aims to safeguard children from anyone within the institution, whether it’s a caretaker, teacher, or any other individual, this policy must be implemented rigorously and insistently.
Beyond school-based measures, Hussein also highlights the importance of using the media in raising awareness.
“We sought to deliver a message of support and guidance directed to families through media channels by contributing medical information related to the psychological condition of children based on our experience in handling cases of sexual assault. We were keen to share this information with UNICEF to support its programmes and awareness activities directed at children on solid scientific foundations,” Hussein said.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 15 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
“We also collaborated with the creators of the TV series Lam Shamseya, which addressed the issue of sexual assaults against children, and we contributed to enriching its content with precise scientific insights. In addition, we presented a booklet containing drawings made by children who had been assaulted in an effort to shed light on their suffering through an engaging media piece that would help to raise awareness and draw the community’s attention to this highly sensitive issue.”
“Another important point to take into consideration is the need to raise awareness in society about our responsibility to support children and families affected by sexual abuse, rather than judging or attacking them,” Hussein added.
“The community must understand that offering support is essential for the child’s healing process. The child and their parents are not to blame for the abuse; their responsibility lies in preventing future harm, exposing the perpetrator, and protecting the child’s rights. The idea that a child will forget the abuse over time, especially in cases of sexual assault, is completely mistaken. Securing the child’s legal rights is vital as it restores their dignity and plays a pivotal role in their recovery, representing 50 per cent of the healing process.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 15 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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