Who abuses children? It does not always begin with a stranger. More often, it starts with someone a child already knows or recognizes. A classmate, a boyfriend or girlfriend, someone from the community, or a family member. Sometimes it is an adult, but often it is not. In many cases, it is a peer or acquaintance. These interactions unfold within existing relationships and social networks. Throughout the interviews, young people spoke about their desire to form new social connections; seeking friendship, romance, affection and a sense of belonging. These motivations are a normal and important part of adolescent development. However, it is also something that perpetrators may deliberately or opportunistically take advantage of and exploit. A girl from the Dominican Republic described how, at 13 years of age, her first relationship with a boy her own age turned abusive: “And I started supposedly my first ‘romantic’ relationship. I really liked the guy, to tell you the truth, he was my first love. Until a time came when we were supposed to be more comfortable with each other, and he started asking me for images. He would say to me, ‘No, you should make a video of yourself dancing, like this, in your underwear’, and things like that. And I would think about it a lot, a lot, a lot, but in the end, I did it.” Through Children’s Eyes Who abuses children? 19