Jayneen Sanders offers 10 compelling reasons why we should keep finding ways to prevent our children from being sexually abused, and why we should provide effective methods for healing and recovery in the event that such abuse happens.
1. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. (Aust. Institute of Criminology, 1993)
2. In 95% of cases, the sexual offender is known to the child, that is, they are a relative or trusted friend. Only 5% of child sexual assault cases are ‘stranger danger’. (Child protection Council, 1993)
3. 84% of sexual victimization of children under 12 occurs in a residence. (Snyder, 2000)
4. 453 pedophiles revealed they were collectively responsible for the molestation of over 67,000 children; that averages 148 children per individual. (Abel, 1994)
5. The most vulnerable age for children to be exposed to sexual assault is between 3 and 8 years with the majority of onset happening between these ages. (Browne & Lynch, 1994)
6. 20% of women had experience childhood sexual abuse, with the age of abuse being under the age of 12 years for 71% of these women (Fleming, 1997)
7. In 98% of child abuse cases reported to officials, children’s statements were found to be true. (NSW Child Protection Council, cited in Dympna House 1998)
8. 1 in 3 Australians would not believe a child if they disclosed sexual abuse. (Australian Childhood Foundation, 2010)
9. 73% of child victims do not tell anyone about the abuse for at least 1 year. 45% do not tell anyone for 5 years. Some never disclose (Broman-Fulks et al, 2007)
10. As high as 81% of men and women in psychiatric hospitals with a variety of mental illness diagnoses, have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse. 67% of these men and women were abused as children (Jacobson & Richardson, 1987)
For an additional way to grow your awareness, check out Jayneen’s fantastic book Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept:
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–Photo: CT Senate Democrats/Flickr