Child sexual abuse describes any incident where an adult engages a child in a sexual act, or exposes the child to inappropriate sexual behavior or material. Sexual abuse also describes any incident in which a child is coerced into sexual activity by another child. Sexual abuse can included both contact and non-contact incidences.
A person may sexually abuse a child by using threats and physical force, but sexual abuse often involves subtle forms of manipulation, in which the child is coerced into believing that the activity is an expression of love, or that the child brought the abuse upon themselves.