Children can show both physical and behavioral signs of sexual abuse, according to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. Some physical symptoms can be difficult — if not impossible — to explain by anything other than sexual abuse. They include:

• Sexually transmitted disease or infection.

• Pregnancy.

• Pelvic inflammatory disease.

• Torn, stained or bloody underclothing.

• Difficulty or pain in walking and sitting.

• Foreign matter in the bladder, rectum, urethra or vagina.

In the majority of sexual abuse cases, physical evidence is not present. Therefore, SRS recommends that special attention should be paid to behavioral indicators. They include:

• Verbally reporting abuse.

• Seductive behavior, advanced sexual knowledge for the child’s age, promiscuity, prostitution.

• Compulsive masturbation, precocious sex play, excessive curiosity about sex.

• Sexually abusing another child.

• Sudden changes in behavior, such as differences in eating or sleeping, acting out, withdrawing from others and depression.