Child sexual abuse is a rare experience happening to a very few children of poor backgrounds.
Child sexual abuse usually happens to teenage girls.
Talking to children about their abuse only makes it worse. If we don’t bring it up, they will forget about it.
Most people who sexually abuse children are strangers to them.
If someone was molesting my child or a relative, I would know it.
If I report that my child was abused, the authorities will take my child away.
Children will lie about sexual abuse to get even or get attention.
FACTS
Child sexual abuse cuts across all ethnic, economic, and social lines. If the present trend continues, as many as one in five children will be sexually abused before they reach age 18.
Victims are often boys and the average child victim is age six.
Even if children are able to initially bury the memory, it may cause severe problems later in life. Without treatment, victims are often unable to experience loving relationships and can become abusers themselves.
90 percent of all incidents are committed by someone in a trusting relationship with the child.
Children rarely tell that they have been sexually abused because they think they are at fault. Parents/caregivers are often the last to know. Many sexually victimized children show little signs of trauma during their abuse.
As a general rule, children are not removed from the adults that are able and willing to protect and care for them.
Children rarely lie about sexual abuse. It is unlikely that a child will make up an incident that can bring shame and guilt and results only in upsetting everyone.
