The Prevalence and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse in Australia

TLDR

The study surveyed 991 first‑year social science students across Victorian post‑secondary institutions, collecting detailed childhood sexual history via questionnaires that were analyzed for activity types, familial factors, and victim reactions. Eighty‑two percent of participants reported sexual experiences before age 13, with 28% of girls and 9% of boys reporting abuse by adults; abusers were predominantly male (over 90%), mostly known to the child, and had mean ages of 30.5 (girls) and 22.4 (boys) years.

Abstract

SynopsisIn a study replicated from the USA, 991 Questionnaires were completed by first year social science students in a range of Victorian post-secondary institutions from universities to apprenticeship schools, in both urban and rural areas. Most items covered the sexual history of the subjects during childhood and adolescence and the three main sections were analysed and reported. 82% of the sample report some kind of sexual experience with another person before the age of 13, some 60% being with other children. Children's sexual experiences with adults, classified as child sexual abuse on age discrepancy criteria, were said to be experienced by 28% of girls and 9% of boys, the mean age of the incidents reported being 9.8 years for girls and 103 years for boys. The mean age of older abusers of girls is 30.5 years and 22.4 years of boys. Over 90% of abusers are men, the girls experiencing mainly heterosexual advances. 24% of abusers were strangers compared with 76% known to the children. The type of sexual activities are reviewed together with the incidence of sexual experiences of children with relatives, and traumatic reactions of the victims are evaluated. Some important family variables are examined including rural background, socioeconomic factors, alcohol, ineffective mothering, absentee fathers, unhappy marriages and size of family.