Crosson-Tower, C.2015-10-202015-10-202005Crosson-Tower, C. (2005). Extrafamilial Sexual Abuse, Misuse and Exploitation. In: Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Longman.http://www.pearsonhighered.com/samplechapter/020540183X.pdf  http://hdl.handle.net/11212/2565The prevailing myth has been that children are sexually abused by strangers. It is now known that a significant percentage of sexual abuse is perpetrated by family members or by surrogate caregivers who are close to the child. Yet there is also danger that friends, acquaintances, and, yes, even strangers abuse and exploit children. Child sexual abuse in the broadest sense encompasses not only the inappropriate touching of children but also using children in sexual trafficking, pornography, and prostitution. Perpetrators may meet their victims in person or through the computer. Often perpetrators abduct their victims. This chapter covers the wide range of extrafamilial sexual abuse—from molestation by acquaintances and strangers to the sexual exploitation of children through a variety of misuses of adult power. For the purpose of this chapter, abuse refers to the touching or molestation of a child by a perpetrator, whereas misuse and exploitation refer to the perpetrator’s encouraging sexual contact with or photographing of the child for the perpetrator’s own financial gain. (Author Text)en-USchild abuseCSECsexual exploitationreviewBook chapter