Facts and Stats About Child Sexual Abuse
The Facts are Staggering:
- There are more than 42 million survivors of sexual abuse in America. (National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse)
- 1 in 3 girls are sexually abused before the age of 18. (The Advocacy Center)
- 1 in 5 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. (The Advocacy Center)
- 1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the Internet before the age of 18. (National Children’s Alliance: Nationwide Child Abuse Statistics)
- 30% of sexual abuse is never reported. (Child Sex Abuse Prevention and Protection Center)
- Nearly 70% of all reported sexual assaults (including assaults on adults) occur to children age 17 and under. (Children’s Advocacy Center)
- 90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way. (U.S. Department of Justice)
- Approximately 20% of the victims of sexual abuse are under age eight. (Broward County)
- 95% of sexual abuse is preventable through education. (Child Molestation Research and Prevention Institute)
- 38% of the sexual abusers of boys are female. (Broward County)
- There is worse lasting emotional damage when a child’s sexual abuse started before the age of six, and lasted for several years. Among child and teen victims of sexual abuse there is a 42 percent increased chance of suicidal thoughts during adolescence. (American Counseling Association)
- “More than 90% of individuals with a developmental delay or disability will be sexually assaulted at least once in their lifetime.” (Valenti-Heim, D.m Schwartz L.)
- “There are nearly half a million registered sex offenders in the U.S. – 80,000 to 100,000 of them are missing.” (The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
- “A typical pedophile will commit 117 sexual crimes in a lifetime.” (National Sex Offenders Registry)
View and download a list of sexual abuse facts and statistics.
Remember…
Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education, but 95% of abuse is preventable through education and awareness.
