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  • Title: Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in a community sample of Australian women.
    Author: Fleming JM.
    Journal: Med J Aust; 1997 Jan 20; 166(2):65-8. PubMed ID: 9033559.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a community sample of Australian women. DESIGN: Retrospective study, done in 1994, of cross-sectional data on the prevalence of CSA, collected as part of a larger two-stage case-control study of the possible relationship between CSA and alcohol abuse. Data were appropriately weighted to adjust for the different selection probabilities of cases and controls. PARTICIPANTS: 710 Women randomly selected from Australian federal electoral rolls. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-four women (20%) had experienced CSA. In 14 of these 144 women (10%), the abuse involved either vaginal or anal intercourse (i.e., 2% of the sample population experienced such abuse). The mean age at first episode of CSA was 10 years, and most (71%) of the women were aged under 12 years at the time. Perpetrators of the abuse were usually male (98%) and usually known to the child; 41% were relatives. The mean age of abusers was 34 years, with a median age difference of 24 years from that of the abused individual. Only 10% of CSA experiences were ever reported to the police, a doctor or a helping agency (e.g., community organisations, such as sexual assault services). CONCLUSION: The high rates of CSA (estimated to be 20% of all women) and low rates of reporting (10%) indicate the need for general practitioners and other health professionals to be aware that a history of such abuse may be common in women in the general population. This retrospective study determined the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a community sample of women in Australia. Conducted in 1994, the study was part of a larger two-stage case-control study of the possible relationship between CSA and alcohol abuse in women. The sample consisted of 710 women randomly selected from the Australian federal electoral rolls. Of the total sample population, 144 women (20%) had experienced CSA; 14 of these 144 women (10%) had experienced either vaginal or anal intercourse. The mean age at the first episode of CSA was 10 years, and most (71%) of the women were under 12 years of age at that time. Perpetrators of the abuse were usually males (98%) and were usually known to the child; 41% were relatives. Of the CSA experiences, only 10% were ever reported to the police, a doctor, or an agency. The high CSA rates (estimated to be 20% of all women) and the low reporting rates (10%) indicate the need for general practitioners and other health professionals to be aware that a history of such abuse may be common in women in the general population.
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