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About Child Sexual Abuse
What is Child Sexual Abuse?
Child sexual abuse is a crime. It is when someone whom a child trusts, or someone older or bigger than them, tricks, threatens or forces them into sexual activities.
Children who have been abused are never to blame.
The NSW Commission for Children and Young People has a helpful
information sheet ( PDF) about child sexual assault.
Child Sexual Abuse involves a range of activities including:
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Child Sexual Abuse involves:
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Myths and Facts
| Myth | Children often lie about being sexually abused. |
| Fact | Children rarely lie about sexual abuse. This myth is a tactic used by some adults to obscure the truth that sexual abuse is a reality. In fact, children are often very reluctant to disclose what is happening to them which makes detection difficult.
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| Myth | Most child sexual assaults are committed by strangers in isolated locations. |
| Fact | 85-90% of children who are sexually assaulted are abused in their own or the abuser’s home by someone they know and trust, usually a male relative (such as their father, stepfather, grandfather, brother, uncle or mother's defacto).
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| Myth | Some children are seductive so they “ask for it”. |
| Fact | The abuser is solely responsible for the decision to sexually abuse. There is an enormous difference between sexual provocation and the natural love and affection which children display to adults who are close to them. Some men choose to abuse children's displays of affection by turning them into an excuse for sexual assault.
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| Myth | Incest is harmless and it can even be a positive experience. |
| Fact | Sexual abuse is harmful. There are many challenging effects for the victim that can take time to heal. People who experience sexual abuse in childhood can experience a range of effects. They may find it difficult to trust (due to the betrayal of trust), experience feelings of anger, sadness, anxiety, shame, guilt and self-blame, find it difficult to develop a positive sense of self, may self-harm as a way of coping, experience trauma symptoms (e.g. nightmares, flashbacks) and more.
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| Myth | Some men are forced to have sex with their daughters because their wives are denying them sex. |
| Fact | The idea that fathers sexually abuse their daughters because they are not sexually satisfied with their wives is unfounded. The mother’s sexuality is not involved. Rather, it is the man’s sexuality and link with power that is important. He chooses to abuse his power when he sexually abuses.
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| Myth | Child Sexual Abuse hardly ever happens. |
| Fact | Approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 9 boys will be sexually abused before they reach the age of 18.
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| Myth | Sibling incest is not harmful. |
| Fact | Wherever there is an imbalance and an abuse of power, incest is harmful. Sexual exploration may be a part of normal development in children. However, it may be exploitative and harmful where there are differences in age, strength and gender and where both children do not have equal control over the situation. Sibling incest is harmful if the behavior is unwanted by one of the children or it makes them feel uncomfortable or afraid.
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| Myth | Men who commit incest are ‘abnormal’ or ‘sick’. |
| Fact | The only common factor which researchers have found is that the overwhelming majority of abusers are male. Only a small percentage of people who sexually abuse children have a recognisable mental illness. The ‘average’ abuser is likely to be a ‘normal’ married man with a family and a job. He is often well respected in the community and otherwise unidentifiable as an abuser. |
| For more information about “Myths & Realities” in relation to sexual assault, click here. |