| Staggering Stats - Child Sexual Abuse |
Reported Numbers in Child Sexual Abuse:
* 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 18.
* 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18.
* 30-40% of victims are abused by a family member.
* More than 20% of children are sexually abused before the age of 8.
See Source in Works Cited
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Research has consistently shown that false allegations of child sexual abuse by children are rare.
Jones and McGraw examined 576 consecutive referrals of child sexual abuse to the Denver Department of Social Services, and categorized the reports as either reliable or fictitious. In only 1% of the total cases were children judged to have advanced a fictitious allegation.
Source: Jones, D. P. H., and J. M. McGraw: Reliable and Fictitious Accounts of Sexual Abuse to Children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 27-45, 1987.
In a more recent study, investigators reviewed case notes of all child sexual abuse reports to the Denver Department of Social Services over 12 months. Of the 551 cases reviewed, there were only 14 (2.5%) instances of erroneous concerns about abuse emanating from children. These consisted of three cases of allegations made in collusion with a parent, three cases where an innocent event was misinterpreted as sexual abuse and eight cases (1.5%) of false allegations of sexual abuse.
Source: Oates, R. K., D.P. Jones, D. Denson, A. Sirotnak, N. Gary, and R.D. Krugman: Erroneous Concerns about Child Sexual Abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect 24:149-57, 2000.
Children Tend to Understate Rather than Overstate the Extent of Any Abuse Experienced.
Research with children whose sexual abuse has been proven has shown that children tend to minimize and deny abuse, not exaggerate or over-report such incidents.
In one study, researchers examined 28 cases in which children had tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease by forensically accepted procedures. To be included in the study, the children had to have presented for a physical problem with no prior disclosure or suspicion of sexual abuse. In addition, subjects were required to be over the age of three but prepubescent and were required to have adequate expressive language capabilities. Each of the 28 children was interviewed by a social worker trained in abuse disclosure techniques and use of anatomically correct dolls. Only 12 of the 28 (43%) of the abused children interviewed gave any verbal confirmation of sexual contact.
Source: Lawson, L., & Chaffin, M. False negatives in sexual abuse disclosure interviews. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7(4), 532-42, 1992.
The 'gold standard' study in this area comes from Sweden. This case involved a lone perpetrator who pled guilty after videotapes of his abuse of ten children were found by authorities. Because of these detailed videotape recordings, researchers knew exactly what happened to these children and were able to compare it to what the children told investigators when they interviewed. The researchers found here was a significant tendency among the children to deny or minimize their experiences. Some children simply did not want to disclose their experiences, some had difficulties remembering them, and one child lacked adequate concepts to understand and describe them. Despite the fact that some of the interviews included leading questions, there were no false allegations.
Source: Sjoberg, R. L., & Lindblad, F. Limited disclosure of sexual abuse in children whose experiences were documented by videotape. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(2), 312-4, 2002.
Source:
The Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence
Full Article: Click Here.
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Child Sexual Abuse ~ Allegations
In a twelve state study of approximately 9000 divorce cases, child sexual abuse allegations were made in less than 2% of contested divorces involving child custody.
Source: Association of Family Conciliation Courts, 1990.
Reported cases of child sexual abuse reached epidemic proportions, with a reported 322 percent increase from 1980 to 1990.
Source: Sorensen & Snow, 1991.
Bruises, burns, and broken bones are more easily identified as child abuse than is sexual assault.
Source: Farrell, 1988.
Works Cited
United States Congress. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice (1983). Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act Amendments of 1983. U.S. G.P.O.
Sussman, Marvin, B., Steinmetz, Suzanne, K., Peterson, Gary, W. (Jan 1, 1999). Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer.
Morash, Merry. (Jul 20, 2005). Gender, Crime, and Justice. Sage Publications Inc
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Finance. (1999). Promotion of Adoption, Safety, and Support for Abused and Neglected Children. U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office.
Ramifications of Child Sexual Abuse
LC: Differentiating Abuse from Alienation
One of the major criticisms of "Parental Alienation Syndrome" is because it is a subjective, nondiagnostic syndrome it fails to determine why a child is alienated from a parent. As a result it is frequently misapplied to abused children, who are then placed in the custody of their abuser and may be court ordered into therapy to strengthen the bond with their abuser and weaken it with their protective parent.
Numerous clinicians who work in the field of child maltreatment, including members of the LC's Advisory Board, have found allegations of PAS often take on lives of their own deflecting any serious investigation into abuse allegations. Even Richard Warshak, Ph.D., one of the chief proponents of PAS, admits that it is frequently misdiagnosed in abused children. This is a serious flaw inherent in the theory making the theory particularly dangerous to the emotional and physical health of the many children in America who have the misfortune to find themselves both abused and the subject of a custody dispute.
Source: The Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence.
Full Article: Click Here
LC: Myths That Place Children At Risk During Custody Litigation
The Leadership Council is a nonprofit scientific organization concerned about the welfare of children. We have become increasingly concerned about the legal system's treatment of victims of family violence during divorce and child custody proceedings. The LC has reviewed documentation from a number of cases in which children were placed in the sole custody of a parent that the child alleges is physically or sexually abusing them. Many of these children were prohibited from any contact or provided only limited contact with the parent seeking to protect the child - despite the fact that this parent had never been found to have harmed the child. In most cases the child's allegations were quite credible.
Some groups have opposed exposure of this problem claiming that the information is politically motivated or constitutes "father-bashing." Our analysis indicates that the problem of abusers or batterers obtaining custody is widespread and well documented by research. Presenting this information is not an attempt to "bash" any particular group, but is offered simply to educate professionals about the extent of this serious problem affecting child safety.
Societal acceptance of these myths assists perpetrators of family violence by giving them custody of their victims and by encouraging public denial about the failure of the legal system to protect these children. The Leadership Council prepared this analysis because we believe that society as a whole benefits when the public has access to accurate information regarding child abuse and other forms of interpersonal violence.
Myth 1: Allegations of sexual abuse are common during custody disputes and the vast majority of allegations are false, unfounded or unsubstantiated.
Myth 2: A history of battering has nothing to do with child abuse.
Myth 3: Custody transfers to abusive parents are rare.
Myth 4: Fit mothers do not lose custody.
Myth 5: Parental alienation syndrome is a common, well-documented phenomenon.
Myth 6: Children are more likely to be abused in the care of a woman than a man.
Dallam. S. J., & Silberg, J. L. (Jan/Feb 2006). Myths that place children at risk during custody disputes. Sexual Assault Report, 9(3), 33-47.
Source: The Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence.
Full Article: Click Here
Impact of Child Sexual Abuse
It is estimated that there are 60 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse in America today.
Source: Forward, 1993.
Approximately 31% of women in prison state that they had been abused as children.
Source: United States Department of Justice, 1991.
Approximately 95% of teenage prostitutes have been sexually abused.
Source: CCPCA, 1992.
It is estimated that children with disabilities are 4 to 10 times more vulnerable to sexual abuse than their non-disabled peers.
Source: National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, 1992.
Long term effects of child abuse include fear, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, inappropriate sexual behavior, poor self esteem, tendency toward substance abuse and difficulty with close relationships.
Source: Browne & Finkelhor, 1986.
Child Sexual Abuse - Disclosures
Among victims of sexual abuse, the inability to trust is pronounced, which also contributes to secrecy and non-disclosure.
Source: Courtois & Watts, 1982.
Children often fail to report because of the fear that disclosure will bring consequences even worse than being victimized again. The victim may fear consequences from the family, feel guilty for consequences to the perpetrator, and may fear subsequent retaliatory actions from the perpetrator.
Sources: Berlinger & Barbieri, 1984; Groth, 1979; Swanson & Biaggio, 1985.
Victims may be embarrassed or reluctant to answer questions about the sexual activity.
Source: Berlinger & Barbieri, 1984.
Victims may also have a feeling that "something is wrong with me," and that the abuse is their fault.
Sources: Johnson, 1987; Tsai & Wagner, l978.
In addition to "sexual guilt," there are several other types of guilt associated with the abuse, which include feeling different from peers, harboring vengeful and angry feelings toward both parents, feeling responsible for the abuse, feeling guilty about reporting the abuse, and bringing disloyalty and disruption to the family. Any of these feelings of guilt could outweigh the decision of the victim to report, the result of which is the secret may remain intact and undisclosed.
Source: Courtois & Watts, 1982; Tsai & Wagner, l978.
A child's initial denial of sexual abuse should not be the sole basis of reassurance that abuse did not occur. Virtually all investigative protocols are designed to respond to only those children who have disclosed. Policies and procedures that are geared only to those children who have disclosed fail to recognize the needs of the majority of victims.
Source: Sorensen & Snow, 1991.
Study of 630 cases of alleged sexual abuse of children from 1985 through 1989: Using a subset of 116 confirmed cases, findings indicated that 79 percent of the children of the study initially denied abuse or were tentative in disclosing. Of those who did disclose, approximately three-quarters disclosed accidentally. Additionally, of those who did disclose, 22 percent eventually recanted their statements.
Source: Sorensen & Snow, 1991.
Young victims may not recognize their victimization as sexual abuse.
Source: Gilbert, l988.
There is the clinical assumption that children who feel compelled to keep sexual abuse a secret suffer greater psychic distress than victims who disclose the secret and receive assistance and support.
Source: Finkelhor & Browne, 1986.
Early identification of sexual abuse victims appears to be crucial to the reduction of suffering of abused youth and to the establishment of support systems for assistance in pursuing appropriate psychological development and healthier adult functioning. As long as disclosure continues to be a problem for young victims, then fear, suffering, and psychological distress will, like the secret, remain with the victim.
Sources: Bagley, 1992; Bagley, 1991; Finkelhor et al. 1990; Whitlock & Gillman, 1989.
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