NCJ Number
155682
Journal
Children's Voice Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1995) Pages: 4-5,15
Editor(s)
M Liepold
Date Published
1995
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Many experts believe that up to 20 percent of American women and 5 to 10 percent of American men were sexually abused as children; only a tiny fraction of all suspected cases ever lead to convictions and a small proportion of victims and offenders receive the treatment they need.
Abstract
A child is incapable of giving informed consent to a sexual relationship. There is no doubt that sexual abuse hurts children in both the short and long term, through adolescent pregnancy, impaired health and functioning, damage to future relationships, and repetition of the cycle of abuse. Taking child sexual abuse seriously and looking for a solution in society as a whole requires public education, ongoing training about child sexual abuse for all mandated reporters, the development of multidisciplinary response teams, criminal background checks for all out-of-home care providers, accessible and affordable treatment for victims and offenders, and longer sentences and probation terms for offenders.