@article{ref1,
title="Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse experiences in a community sample of women",
journal="Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry",
year="1993",
author="Anderson, James and Martin, J. and Mullen, Paul and Romans, Sarah E. and Herbison, Peter",
volume="32",
number="5",
pages="911-919",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to ascertain the prevalence and nature of sexual abuse in childhood for a community sample of women. METHOD: A two-stage design, using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, was employed, providing information on prevalence rates, types of abuse, ages of victims, relationship to the abuser, and cohort effects. RESULTS: Nearly one woman in three reported having one or more unwanted sexual experiences before age 16 years. A significant number of these experiences (70%) involved genital contact or more severe abuse, and 12% of those abused were subjected to sexual intercourse. The abusers were usually known to the victim, being family members in 38.3% of cases and acquaintances in another 46.3%. Stranger abuse accounted for 15% of all abuse experiences. Most of the abusers were young men, disclosure of the abuse was infrequent, and only 7% of all abuse was ever officially reported. Prevalence rates showed no urban/rural differences, no cohort effect with subject age, and no age differences in disclosure rates. CONCLUSIONS: Child sexual abuse is common, serious, infrequently reported, and the abuser is usually known to the child. Preadolescent girls are at greatest risk.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0890-8567",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}