CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Additional resources The following Web sites contain information about the issue of child sexual abuse: Safe Haven for Children Sexual Abuse Statistics Child Abuse.org - Cherish the Child American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry American Psychological Association

Although the recent child sexual abuse scandal within the Roman Catholic Church has been a big news story, sexual abuse of children is, sadly, not a new subject for most denominations – and it’s certainly not a new problem within our society. According to statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, there were 87,900 reported cases of sexual abuse of children in 2000.

The younger the child, the more likely they were to fall victim to abuse. DHHSA reports that a child was most likely to be abused by one he or she should trust the most -- 84 percent of victims were abused (counting all forms of abuse, both sexual and physical) by one or both parents. Overall (again counting both physical and sexual abuse) the DHHSA reports 60 percent of abusers are female. When sexual abuse is considered alone, several sources say 90 percent of abusers are male."