Child Sexual Assault
What is child sexual abuse?
Child sexual abuse (CSA) constitutes a broad range of behaviors occurring along a continuum from voyeurism to rape, and usually happens over an extended period of time. Child abuse is possible because of the differences in power and control between the offender and the victim
How common is it?
Child sexual abuse is occurring in pandemic proportions and causes grave physical and psychological trauma, along with social havoc. In the United States alone, child sexual abuse affects one-third of girls and one-sixth of boys by the time they are 18 years old.
It is difficult to know the true extent of child sexual abuse. Most child sexual abuse is never reported (due to shame, fear, stigma, manipulation, and other factors). The information that does get reported can look quite different depending on who is reporting it — for example, whether recounted by a child to various authorities as opposed to by an adult who has found out as a result of trauma or pregnancy. Also, authorities often minimize or dismiss the abuse reported, blame the victim, and/or protect the abuser.
Only one in 10 children in the United States actually let someone know that it has occurred. We also know that more than two-fifths of women and more than one-third of men who have been sexually abused in the United States never disclose the experience to anyone.
What are the consequences?
We all privately or publicly know survivors who have not only survived, but thrived; it has taken work for them to get there. CSA often has extremely severe consequences. They include:
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Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other psychological problems
Anti-social behaviors
Decreased school performance and delinquency
Substance abuse
Promiscuity
Teen pregnancy
Sexually transmitted infections and diseases, including HIV
Prostitution
Homicide and suicide
Incarceration
Chronic disease
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Decades of research documents that adults who were sexually victimized as children have a higher likelihood of being negatively impacted in their adulthood by numerous types of psychological and physiological ailments and sociological pathologies, including post traumatic stress disorder, self-destructive and violent behaviors, and even chronic disease.