What is child sexual abuse?

Child sexual abuse is any sexual contact between a child and an adult or a much older child.  This includes touching of private parts, sex acts and pornography.  In Maryland, if the abuse is committed by someone not providing direct care for the child, it is called child sexual assault.

 

 

As defined by Maryland State Family Law 5-701, Child Sexual abuse:

 

  • Means any act that involves sexual molestation or exploitation of a child by a parent or other person who has permanent or temporary care, custody, or responsibility for supervision of a child, or by any household or family member.

  • Includes incest, rape, sexual offense in any degree, sodomy, or unnatural or perverted practices.

Facts about Child Sexual Abuse

  • The average age of reported victims of child sexual abuse in the City of Baltimore is 9 years old.
  • 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused before they reach the age of 18. Briere, J., Eliot, D.M. Prevalence and Psychological Sequence of Self-Reported Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse in the General Population. Child Abuse and Neglect, 2003, 27  10.
  • Almost 90% of child sexual abuse victims know their abuser; abuse by a stranger accounts for only 10% of child sexual abuse cases. Finkelhor, D. Sexually assaulted Children. In press  OJJDP: Washington, D.C.
  • Almost half of all sexual abuse is committed by children under the age of 18. Hunter, J.A., et al., Juvenile Sex Offenders: toward development of a typology. (2003).
  • Victims of child sexual abuse are at high risk for long-term physical and emotional problems including eating disorders, obesity, depression, drug dependence, promiscuity, and prostitution. Need cite

  • 88% of child sexual abuse is never reported to the authorities. Hanson, RF et. al. 1999. Factors Related to the Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse.

  • Over 30% of all victims NEVER disclose their experience to ANYONE (Darkness to Light)


A Crime of Secrecy

Studies have shown that only 12% of child sexual abuse is ever reported.  Children are often reluctant to speak up because they do not think they will be believed, or because they have been made to feel that they caused the abuse to happen, or at least failed to stop it. In some instances, the abuser has threatened the child, as well as his/her family, if the child reveals the abuse. Sadly, some victims are too young to understand or verbalize what happened to them. 

 

The small percentage of reports of child sexual abuse is also related to the reluctance of families to involve the legal system or child protective services.  In some cases the perpetrator is the main breadwinner for the family, resulting in serious financial hardships for the entire family.  It may mean that family members and friends can no longer safely live together or even visit.  Family members and friends often find themselves at odds, some denying that the abuse ever happened, others angry because they know that it did.  Getting to know each family and their situation will help BCAC and its partners to help the family through this difficult time and help them to find any resources they may need.

 

For some families, the occurrence of child sexual abuse is just one more challenge in a series of challenges – poverty, drug and alcohol dependence, mental illness, physical and emotional abuse.  Reporting and addressing child sexual abuse is not their highest priority.  In fact, some mothers have revealed that they had been sexually abused as children themselves and had managed to get over it without help.  They felt that their children could do the same.