Child Sexual Abuse Police Tracking Project: A Hospital-based Study for the Law Reform Commission of Victoria (From Sexual Offences Against Children: Research Reports, P 61-185, 1988, T Kaufman, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-115654)

• NCJ Number: 115656
• Author(s): C R Goddard
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 125 pages
• Sale Source: Victorian Law Reform Cmssn
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This study examined the characteristics of 104 families whose children were suspected of having been sexually abused and tracked these cases into the criminal justice system.

Abstract

The sample consisted of all cases seen in a Victoria, Australia, hospital between January 1 and October 30, 1987. Results indicate the suspected victims are very young and female, and that perpetrators are predominantly male and family members, or at least known to the victim. The most common perpetrator was the natural father. A large proportion of cases presented with masked indicators of sexual abuse. The types of abuse generally were serious and involved contact. Many of the victims had been regarded as at-risk prior to hospital contact and had received prior services from several agencies. Many of the families had multiple problems including domestic violence, social isolation, parental histories of abuse and neglect, alcoholism, and housing and financial problems. The tracking project showed that although referral to protective services is recommended by the hospital protocol and was the preferred referral in almost half the cases, many of these cases were refused. While the police accepted many referrals, cases were extremely difficult to track; and police information was available through informal, rather than formal retrieval systems. Briefs are not compiled in many cases, and few cases are prosecuted. Finally, cases do not appear to enter the protective service system through the police in very large numbers. Case studies are appended. 81 tables.