Childhood Sexual Abuse
The vast majority of children are abused by men that they know; fathers; stepfathers; grandfathers; uncles etc. However the abuse of a child by a woman is no less serious. The sexual abuse of a child or a young person is a planned and premeditated act. Children are groomed by the abuser in order to achieve a child or young person's trust, to ensure their compliance and silence. We are becoming more and more aware of the use of social networking sites and internet as tools to reach children and young people. Children and young people experience threats both covert and overt in order that the abuse remains undiscovered. Rarely is child sexual abuse reported and much of what we know is from survivors who disclose as adults.
-
59% of young women and 27% of young men have experienced at least one sexually intrusive incident before the age of 18
-
21% of young women and 7% of young men have experienced sexual abuse involving physical contact before the age of 18
-
Women are between 2 and 3 times more likely to experience sexual abuse than men
-
14% of abusers were close relatives, 68% were more distant relatives and other previously known persons, 18% were strangers
-
85% of peer abusers were male and 95% of adult abusers were male
-
36% of women and 19% of men have experienced sexual abuse
-
The prevalence rates for black and white women and men were the same
-
Nearly 90% of 1,400 girls aged 13 to 17 had been in intimate relationships, the NSPCC and University of Bristol found
-
Of these, 1 in 6 said they had been pressured into sexual intercourse and 1 in 16 said they had been raped
-
The NSPCC said the unwanted sexual activity ranged from kissing to intercourse
-
1 in 17 boys reported having been pressured or forced into sexual activity