STATISTICS

1 IN 3 will be abused

In some research*, 1in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys have experienced sexual abuse.

*The CDC (The Federal Center for Disease Control) collaborated with Kaiser Permanente, to perform the Adverse Childhood Experience study (ACE). The study involved physical examination of over 17,000 adults and surveys from each participant to determine what correlation may exist between childhood maltreatment and family dysfunction, and adult health and behaviors.

From the surveys. 16% of male participants and 25% of female participants acknowledged that they had experienced sexual abuse as children, defined in the survey as "an adult or person at least 5 years older ever touched or fondled you in a sexual way, or had you touch their body in a sexual way, or attempted oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you or actually had oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you." (CDC)

This supported previous research that indicated between 20-33% of women had experienced sexual abuse as children.

(Source: Finkelhor, in press: Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis & Smith, 1990; Kilpatrick, Edmunds, & Seymour, 1992; Peters, Wyatt, & Finkelhor, 1986; Russell, 1984, 1088, Saunders, 1992.). [http://66.199.228.237/boundary/childhood_trauma_and PTSD/repressed-memory-abuse-williams-1194.pdf]

Nearly 3/4 of victims will not tell anyone for at least a year.

Nearly half of victims will wait at least 5 years before telling. Some never tell.

90% of cases are never reported.

This staggering statistic means the majority of sexual offenders are walking the streets free, completely unknown to society. 

Why does this happen?

Oftentimes, children hesitate to tell someone when they have been abused, waiting months or even years before asking for help. Even when they do talk about it - to friends, a therapist, or a family member - it does not always get reported to authorities. For example, the victim or their family may not want to endure an investigation and possibly even a trial. Or the child's story may be dismissed as imagined.  Because it takes so long for children to finally tell, many are often adults by the time they disclose their abuse.

If the abuser is a family member, a friend, or another minor, the family may decide to not report to the police and attempt to deal with abuse on their own. They may simply be relieved that the child is no longer being abused and decide not to report. Even if they do report, cases involving family member are "screened out" by the police to be handled by the Department of Family Services, Child Protective Services, or other non-law enforcement agency that handles domestic issues. CPS must first substantiate the abuse before allowing the case to be handed over to the police for an arrest and possible prosecution.

Some Never tell...