National Sexual Violence Resource Center Info & Stats for Journalists What is Child Sexual Abuse? Child sexual abuse is a crime and an abuse of trust, power, and authority that may contribute to serious short- and long- term problems for a child. Children who have been sexually abused may also experience verbal, emotional, or physical abuse (Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, Hamby, & Kracke, 2009). Forms of child sexual abuse A person sexually abuses a child when he or she exposes the child to sexual acts or behavior. Forms include (Finkelhor, Hammer, & Sedlak, 2008): • Sex acts that involve penetration • Touching the child’s breasts or genitals • Making a child touch the perpetrator’s breasts or genitals • Voyeurism (when a perpetrator looks at a child’s naked body) • Exhibitionism (when a perpetrator shows a child his or her naked body) • Showing a child pornography or using a child in the production of pornography (Putnam, 2003). • Child sexual exploitation, such as trafficking or sex trafficking • Internet-based child sexual abuse, such as creating, depicting, and/or distributing sexual images of children online; or stalking, grooming, and/or engaging in sexually explicit behaviors with children online. Warning Signs that a child may have been sexually abused • Bodily signs (e.g., bed-wetting, stomachaches, headaches, sore genitals) • Emotional signs (e.g., fear, sadness, mood changes, acting out, refusing to be left alone with certain people) • Sexual signs (e.g., inappropriate sexual behavior with objects or other children) • Verbal signs (e.g., knowledge about sexuality that is not age- or developmentally appropriate) Evidence shows that child sexual abuse is not always obvious and many children do not report that they have been abused (Finkelhor et al., 2008). Children often love and/or trust the people who sexually abuse them, creating further barriers and complications in coming forward. Some fear the consequences of a disclosure and the ramifications it will have on their family. People who sexually abuse children may use force or, more commonly, manipulation to abuse a child and keep him or her from telling others. Warning Signs that a person may be sexually abusing a child • Person exhibits an unusual interest in a particular child or particular age or gender of children • Person socializes more with children than with adults and creates opportunities to spend time alone with children • Person insists on hugging, touching, kissing, tickling, wrestling with or holding a child even when the child does not want this affection • Person encourages a lack of privacy around the home and on the part of children and expresses voyeuristic behaviors such as watching children bathe • Person discusses inappropriate topics with a child • Person exhibits lack of interest in normal adult sexual relations but is overly interested in the sexuality of a particular child or teen Victims of child sexual abuse Gender: Both boys and girls are vulnerable to child sexual abuse. Research has shown that girls are abused three times more often than boys, whereas boys are more likely to die or be seriously injured by their abuse (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996). Age: Children of all ages, from birth to age 17, are sexually abused. In a recent survey, adolescents ages 14 to 17 are by far the most likely to be sexually victimized; nearly one in six adolescents (16.3%) was sexually victimized in the past year and more than one in four (27.3%) had been sexually victimized during their lifetimes (Finkelhor et al., 2009). People who sexually abuse Gender: Based on law enforcement reports, 96% of people who sexually abuse children are male (Snyder, 2000). Age: Most perpetrators are adults. Law enforcement reports show that 76.8% of those who perpetrate sexual assaults are adults; 23.2% are juveniles who sexually abuse children, and 19.5% of perpetrators are between the ages of 12-17 (Snyder, 2000). Relationship to the child: Children are most often sexually abused by people they know and trust. People who sexual abuse children can be in positions of authority and esteemed by the community. Family members are the perpetrators in 34% of reported cases against juveniles (Snyder, 2000). References Finkelhor, D., Hammer, H., & Sedlak, A. J. (2008). Sexually assaulted children: National estimates and characteristics (NCJ 214383). Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/214383.pdf Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R., Hamby, S., & Kracke, K. (2009). Children’s exposure to violence: A comprehensive national survey (NCJ 227744). Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227744.pdf Putnam, F. W. (2003). Ten-year research update review: Child sexual abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 269-278. doi:10.1097/00004583-200303000-00006 Sedlak, A. J., & Broadhurst, D. D. (1996). Executive summary of the third national incidence study of child abuse and neglect. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/statsinfo/nis3.cfm Snyder, H. N. (2000). Sexual assault of young children as reported to law enforcement: Victim, incident and offender characteristics (NCJ 182990). Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/saycrle.pdf © National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2012. All rights reserved.