These children are in trouble and you all are correct to be concerned. You must confront the situation and family rules regarding inappropriate touching amongst the cousins must be stated, restated, and supervised. They may not be left alone without a trusted adult at this time. When young children act out sexually in the manner you describe, something is not right. Naked child - naked male in bed is enough for me. If your family knows a social worker or a psychologist in pediatrics, run don't walk. And the answer to your question: YES, it is abuse when young children act sexually on other children.
The previous comments made here suggest that the molestation or abuse may be coming from the male figure in these childeren's lives. Don't rule that out, but, you don't know where the abuse lies. As much as you may respect your sister and as hard as it may be to believe such things, the abuse can be coming from the mother. Just keep your eyes open. It may be best to go to people who deal with these types of things regurlaly. The important thing is to protect the children, stop the abuse and get them the help they need with recovering from such situation.
I agree with this anwser.
That definetly sounds like abuse to me especially since you said the 4 year old was afraid of men. That there is a big sign,. You should tell your sister immediatly.
That definetly sounds like abuse to me especially since you said the 4 year old was afraid of men. That there is a big sign,. You should tell your sister immediatly.
There is clearly some pretty worrisome pathology in this family and you have every reason to be concerned. The appearance, and I underscore appearance, is that the children have been sexually mistreated. At the very least, they have been exposed to a level of sexual behavior that shoud not have occurred. At worst, they have actually been sexually abused. They are displaying the sort of abuse reactive behavior that is typical of abused children. While you risk alienating your sister, it is the responsible thing to do to voice your concern for the children. In a nice but direct way, tell your sister about your observations and suggest she seek help. You may have to voice your concern to the local child protection agency. Try to enlist the help of people whom the family trusts - e.g., friends, clergy.