This is a deep question - hope I dont scare you...?

Question

Do you think that most people have experienced sexual abuse at some point during their childhood? Do you think its sorta 50/50, or maybe 1 in 10... dont give me text-book stats, I'm talking reality.
We were talking about it in class earlier.

The stats that make the textbooks dont really account for people who dont ever report their abuse. And I think that may be a lot of people.

I've had my own experience with that, and I had a hard time within the last year or so dealing with it. I told a friend, and she told me that she had her own experience... and another mutual friend... and I've known many growing up... I just wonder who HASN'T had that kind of issue??

Hmm.. more clarification.

By sexual abuse, I mean any kind of incest, or adults / teens touching children's genetalia or kissing them sexually... real deal stuff, not an old man whistling at a 20 year old. Stuff that people could / should go to jail for.

Answer 1

Maybe people have experienced it, but don't talk about it. I don't ever remember being sexually abused as a child, and my friends have never mentioned anything about it. But then again, why would someone really want to mention it?

Answer 2

I don't know what the stats really are ... and I don't think the experts do either. First of all, sexual abuse is in the eye of the beholder. What one person terms as sexual abuse may not be the same as another person. When a child experiences sexual abuse, s/he may or may not tell someone. And, many times when a child does tell someone, that person doesn't believe the child.

There are three girls in my family and 2 of the 3 of us were sexually abused as children. Now I have four nieces and nephews and one of my nephews was sexually abused by a student in his class (kindergarten, if you can believe it) while on his school bus. He told the bus driver, who didn't believe him. His mother told the school, who viewed the bus videotape. The school ruled it as "curiosity" and have since then done absolutely nothing about it. In any regards, my nephew has had serious issues at school because other students saw it AND because it upset him. What this ended up teaching the students at the school was to not tell because you will be ridiculed. It's a sad situation with horribly lasting results - mostly because most kids don't get the chance to express their feelings about the entire situation. The worst thing is that the 5 year old little girl is probably being sexually abused and no one seems to care enough to even look into her own situation.

My experience is that nearly a third of the people I know have been sexually abused as a child and over half have been sexually abused/assaulted over the course of their lifetimes.

Answer 3

I would very much like to think that most people have not experienced sexual abuse during their childhood. Unfortunately, wishing doesn't make it true. I think that if you were to take textbook statistics and add about 5% or so to those numbers, that you would be closer to the truth.
In this day and age, more people are aware if the possibility and are more vigilant in looking for 'symptoms' in their children. Also, it seems that, while embarrassing, it is something that is more widely-for lack of a better word-accepted to be a victim of.
Some people do take this issue too far, and cry abuse at small and benign actions. I had an uncle that used to give lip-to-lip kisses and I thought it was weird-but I wouldn't say it was abuse.

Answer 4

I think sexual abuse is a somewhat subjective term. Some people might consider a child seeing their parent walk around the house nude as sexual abuse. Some people might consider "show me yours and I'll show you mine" games between children of similar ages to be sexual abuse. Some people might even consider the girls do laundry while the boys rake leaves to be sexual abuse.

That being said, I think the number is much higher than people think. Maybe as high as 50% - at least of girls. But I would say maybe 5-10% of people experiences real sexual abuse in the form of an adult intentionally doing bad things to a child. The rest I would I probably consider sexual experimentation or exploration, that while inappropriate or wrong, was not intended to hurt the victim.

Based on your clarifying information, I would estimate the number is on the lower end - in the 5-10% range. The flip side of this is how many people do you believe have committed sexual abuse? If you think the number of victims is nearing 50%, that implied that nearly 50% of people have committed sexual abuse. Of course I realize the number of offenders is smaller than the number of victims because someone who has done it once is more likely to do it again.

Answer 5

I wouldn't say most, but I would say a very big number. But since most people can't remember their childhood experiences, it would be hard to get an exact number. Then it depends on the extent. Like what sexual abuse extends to. The more it includes, the bigger the statistic would be. Like if it includes kissing or inappropriate talks, instead of sexual contact alone. I think the percent would increase by God knows what. But I would say like 30-40% for now.

Answer 6

50 50? what? How about 1 in 20 about?

Answer 7

I would say there's about 25% of people who are phyically abused at a young age. But if you're talking verbal sexual abuse, yes. I'm sure more than 50% are verbally abused everyday. I know I've been.

Answer 8

Sexual abuse could also mean a wholf whistle or a sexual connetation said to a girl. A hand on their thigh etc, etc, etc. If those stats were counted, then I'm sure EVERY girl would say they had been abused in one way or another.

Answer 9

Maybe less when it comes to sexual abuse. If you were talking MOLESTATION - then my answer would be different.
No text book answers for ya girl - I promise.
But I think sexualy abouse would be a more out of 10-15% rather than anything higher. As far as molestation, I would say - at least 25-30% of people have had at least one encounter of it - whether is was mild or direct...........

Hope I helped.....

Meg -

Answer 10

I think 1 out of 3 has been molested and I'm sure that 2 out of 3 has had an unpleasant sexual experience