How Common is Sexual Abuse?
Studies in the United States show that up to one in every three or four girls and one in every four to ten boys has been sexually abused before age 18. These numbers are most likely low since many abuse occurrences go unreported. The FBI believes that only 1-10% of cases is ever disclosed.
Child molesters who victimize girls average 50 victims before being caught and those of boys average 150 victims. The average pedophile molests 117 children before being caught and incarcerated.
Children between the ages of 5 and 12 are most vulnerable. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that “54% of sexually abused children are victimized before the age of 7 and 84% before the age of 12.”
Who are child molesters?
In 95% of cases the abuser is male. 75% of sexual predators are younger than 35 and are of normal intelligence. Studies have found that 10-30% of abuse was committed by strangers. Which means that up to 90% of children are sexually abused by someone that they know, and about 30% of those children are victimized by relatives.
Most abuse occurs with someone that the child has developed a trusting relationship with. Someone that both the child and the parent feel comfortable with. Sexual predators are often in positions of trust or authority over children, such as coaches, scout leaders, teachers, religious leaders, and doctors. They are the people we would least expect to be a child molester.
How do they do it?
Child pedophiles work hard at developing an image. Information from the Parent’s for Megan’s Law Web site, which fights against and educates people about child predators, says a child pedophile often “puts himself in a position in his community where he has easy access to children. He will often work hard (sometimes for years) to gain the trust of parents while at the same time be sexually abusing their child.”
So when an allegation is made parents often have a hard time believing their children. Parents do not want to believe that the person they trusted could have done such a thing. Families often deny the abuse and blame the child for accusing a “pillar of the community” of abuse. Sexual abusers count on this behavior. This is why so many sexual abusers work hard to become a highly regarded member of the community.
Predators use many tricks to coerce their victims. The top trick on Laura Ahearn, director of Parents for Megan’s Law, list is called the “Apple of My Eye Trick”. This is when predators gain children’s trust by giving them special attention and love. They do this so that eventually they can sexually abuse them. Those children who are seeking love and attention are especially vulnerable. For a list of other tricks child predators use visit parentsformegan’slaw.com.
For more information about how you can protect your children against child molesters see my upcoming blog titled “Teaching Children About Child Molesters”.