For some pre-schoolers, playing house includes real attempts at sex ? even anal sex.

This is child abuse and the Department of Family Services say we must speak up about it when we see it.

Twelve of the 62 cases of child sexual abuse reported to Family Services last year concerned children four years and under.

Social worker Lisa Talbot explained that none of the 12 were cases of adults having sex with the children but rather what she termed ?child on child sex abuse?.

This is where children may fondle or touch other children in ways that exceed natural curiosity, she said.

?It?s normally fairly explicit sexual behaviour,? said Family Services supervisor Glenda Edward. ?The schools and nurseries know the difference between the ?I?ll show you mine, you show me yours?. This is children playing house and actually trying to do anal sex on other children.?

She said such behaviour in little children begs the question: ?Where did they learn it from??.

She said social workers in the department worry ?has it happened to them or have they seen it on TV??

Ms Talbot added: ? Sometimes they use explicit language that leads you to believe that they have been exposed to adult situations.?

Mrs. Edwards said the incidence is becoming more prevalent and she warned that parents might not realise that they are damaging their children by exposing them to sex so young.

?Their parents are putting them at risk because once children start this behaviour ? it feels nice and then there?s a chance that it will continue to go on and then they will be victimised.?

Statistics of sexual abuse against children for 2005 show girls in the 15 years to 18 years age group as most vulnerable with 13 incidents reported. Figures in the five-year to nine-year age group are almost as high with 11 reported cases against girls.

The majority of cases reported are against females (44 last year), but Maureen Bell, Intake Coordinator for Family Services, said she believes the 18 reported cases against boys is grossly under reported.

?I think that boys go unreported more because of the stigma attached to it,? she said.

And the social workers said that often in these cases, when you find one, you soon find that there are others.

?Generally when a perpetrator is found, particularly a male, they have perpetrated on a number of children. We had a high profile case were there were a number of boys and we had one where there were a number of girls,? said Mrs. Edwards.

?Once someone blows the whistle you often find a lot of other people and often it has been going on for years. So you?re talking about adult women and then you?ve got some grandchild that is reporting it. That is not unusual.?

Also common is that a lot of people know what is going on but no one is ever charged.

?We certainly have had adults say ?that happened to me what?s the big deal lets just get on with it?,? said Mrs. Edwards. ?I think there is a sense that things happen to young girls and you keep it quiet and you move on. Many adult women have done that. What we are trying to do is shake that up and say that?s not acceptable.?

While some adults minimise sexual assault, still others deny it.

The social workers said the main trend in Bermuda is for the mother?s boyfriend to be sexually abusing a daughter.

What?s most worrying is that some mothers don?t believe their daughters and tell them that they are lying or that they misread things.

?They can?t understand why a man would chose their child when they are in a supposed healthy sexual relationship,? said Ms Talbot. ?They still cannot wrap their brain around the idea that he is around the corner doing something to their child.?

The housing crisis and other economic factors often make the situation such that the mother feels she cannot leave. In such instances family services remove the child and try to place them with close family.

But this scenario has the effect of penalising the child, the victim who has done nothing wrong. Social workers said ideally the man would be removed from the home and they pointed out that while they can legally file for them to leave ? that it is often the mothers who refuse that happening.