Many of you are familiar with the statement, “One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday.”
This statistic came from the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Over the past two decades, it has been widely used within industries that study, work with, or advocate for children. Until recently, it was also found in Darkness to Light’s prevention and education resources, including the original version of our Stewards of Children® child sexual abuse prevention program.
Today, evidence suggests that child sexual abuse rates have declined significantly over the last 20 years. To determine a more current prevalence rate, we examined research data from many credible prevalence studies. Research revealed that the current rate is closer to one in 10 children. We still have our work cut out for us, but it’s wonderful to see that community efforts in child protection are paying off!
Svava, do you really think this “updated” info is correct, or is it possible that under reporting is playing a factor in this new data???
Being that only 1-10 will ever reveal that they were abused I don’t understand how anyone comes up with statistics to prove the number is dropping.
It is no different then an offender is convicted for his first or second or sixth offense..offenses only mean those are the ones they were caught and charged with. I suspect for every time an offender is charged with assault on one person he has at the minimum five others victims we don’t know about.
I worked in a program for offenders for 16 years. On of my students was 16. He reported he already had 36 victims. 1-10…I find this very difficult to believe.
https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-62902-425-7 My knew book will give victims of Sexual Assault a voice!