NCJ Number
117007
Date Published
1988
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Sexual abuse experiences were evaluated in questionnaire data for 267 male and female students at 5 West Virginia colleges and universities.
Abstract
Subjects had lived in the State for at least 10 years prior to age 18. Average age of females was 26, of males 22. Of the sample, 117 reported one or more sexual acts before age 12. Females reported almost twice as many acts as males, and offenders were predominantly male (87 percent). Urban-reared females were somewhat more vulnerable than rural-reared females. Among the 9.2 percent abused females from rural areas, not one case involved incest, raising questions about incestogenic stereotypes of isolated hill-valley families. Males tended to view the sexual experience as an adventure and curiosity-satisfying, while females were more likely to view it as an invasion of the body or a moral wrong. The largest post-sexual experience reaction for females was fear. Young females experienced more general sexual approaches on their first experience than did males. Marked differences in type of sexual activity between males and females occurred in invitations, sexual kissing or hugging, sexual fondling, and attempted penetration. For both sexes, most of the sexual activity suggested little likelihood of physical damage or outward signs of sexual abuse. Indicators of acute and chronic sexual molestation are listed, and implications for sociomedical intervention and management are discussed. 1 table and 25 references.