Child Sexual Abuse - What Makes A Victim Disclose Childhood Sexual Abuse?

A review of studies of child sexual abuse shows that more females than males seem to disclose childhood sexual abuse. This is because females are more likely to participate in research studies. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and of the College of Charleston, South Carolina, sought to discover the factors that contribute to the likelihood that an adolescent will disclose sexual abuse. The authors also sought to examine whether, among the different ethnic/racial groups, adolescents differ in rates of disclosure and in the factors contributing to that disclosure (Rochelle F. Hanson, Lisha W. Kievit, Benjamin E. Saunders, Daniel W. Smith, Dean G. Kilpatrick, Heidi S. Resnick, and Kenneth J. Ruggiero, "Correlates of Adolescent Reports of Sexual Assault: Findings from the National Survey of Adolescents," Child Maltreatment, vol. 8, no. 4, November 2003).

Participants in the National Survey of Adolescents were a national, random sample of 4,023 U.S. adolescents ages twelve to seventeen. The sample was made up of 51.3% males and 48.7% females. A majority (70.2%) were white non-Hispanic. The children were grouped into several age cohorts (groups with like characteristics). Interviews were conducted by telephone, with the consent of the parent or guardian.

A total of 326 adolescents (8.1%) indicated that they had experienced child sexual abuse. Approximately four of five (78.1%) participants were female, and one of five (21.9%) was male. Most (58.2%) were white, 23.6% were African-American, and 9.4% were Hispanic. Other ethnic groups made up 8.2%.

Of the 326 victims almost one-third (30.7%) had been raped, more than one-quarter (26.8%) reported fearing for their life during the assault, and about 10% had suffered physical injuries. Alcohol or drugs were involved in 6.7% of the incidents. Single incidents were reported by about two-thirds (64.1%) of the victims. Three-quarters (76.4%) knew the perpetrator (4.3% identified their father or step-father as the abuser), 17.5% named another relative, and 52.8% reported an unrelated acquaintance. Nearly onequarter (23%) said the perpetrator was a stranger, 1.8% (six adolescents) knew the perpetrator but did not identify the person, and two victims did not name the perpetrator.

About two-thirds (68.1%, or 222 adolescents) of the victims told interviewers they disclosed their sexual abuse to a person. Just 4.5% (ten victims) first disclosed the abuse to a police officer or social worker. One-third (34.3%) told their mother or stepmother, and more than a third (39.3%) told a close friend. The other victims told another relative (6.1%), a teacher (1.8%), a father or step-father (1.7%), or a doctor or other health professional (1.3%). About 3.4% indicated they disclosed the abuse to someone but did not say who it was. Another 3.9% would not say who they told of the abuse, or could not remember who they first told. Overall, just one-third (33.6%) indicated they reported the abuse to police or other authorities.

More females (74%) than males (46.5%) disclosed having been sexually abused. White victims (75.1%) were more likely than Hispanics (67.7%) and African-Americans (55.8%) to tell someone of their abuse. Having feared for their lives during the assault (80.7% of victims) increased the likelihood of disclosing the abuse, compared with having suffered physical injury (70.6%), having used substances (68.2%), having been assaulted once (67.9%), or having experienced a penetration assault (72%). The likelihood of telling someone of the abuse was also influenced by the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. Nearly nine of ten victims (87.7%) who were sexually abused by a relative disclosed the incident, compared to those abused by a stranger (70.7%), an unrelated acquaintance (62.2%), or a father (57.1%).

The study showed that the gender of the adolescent is related to disclosure of sexual abuse, with girls more likely to do so. The authors reiterated previous findings that males might fear being thought of as gay if the abuser were male. Also, society tells males that they are powerful creatures and that it is all right for them to engage in any sexual relationship with females. The authors also noted that other studies have shown that African-American females are reluctant to disclose sexual abuse because of fear of not being believed. Although no similar studies have been done of their male counterparts, the authors thought the same reason might keep African-American male adolescents from reporting child sexual abuse. In this study African-American females were seven times more likely than their male counterparts to tell someone they had experienced sexual abuse. White adolescents did not differ in disclosure of abuse based on gender.