Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse in homeschooling situations is compounded by the fact that children homeschooled by sexually abusive parents do not have access to age-appropriate sex education that might give them the tools needed to understand and report their own abuse. In some especially isolated families, incest and rape takes place without the children understanding that what is happening is wrong. In other cases, children know that what is happening to them is very wrong and want it to stop, but lack access to trusted adults who might be able to help them. When sexually abused children are homeschooled by their abuser, they may literally have no place of escape. In some cases, they may commit suicide.

Homeschooled children who suffer from sexual abuse are often hindered both by their own ignorance and by their lack of contact with individuals they can trust.

Sexual abuse played a role in each of the following cases in the HIC database: