Child Sexual Abuse:
A Core Problem

by Ken Wooden

Daily, the media reports on a litany of health and social problems affecting America's children and youth: drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, depression, suicide, school drop-out, teen pregnancy, divorce, welfare, homelessness, sexually transmitted diseases, runaways, violent crime and so forth.

While we struggle to combat these persistent health and social ills, they continue to take a heavy toll in terms of human potential and financial resources. The public health factor alone is staggering. The economic toll, in terms of diminished productivity, public assistance, incarceration/probation costs and the like is astronomical . The emotional toll to individuals, families, and society as a whole is simply too vast to imagine.

Buried in all our sincere efforts to solve these pressing issues is a core social problem contributing to many of them: the Sexual Exploitation of Children. These crimes of indescribable betrayal frequently remain cloaked in silence, though visited repeatedly in the minds of victims. The aftermath of such trauma can no longer be disputed. A flood of documentation confirms that sexual abuse leaves its victims profoundly vulnerable to a host of other problems. In fact, every major social issue effecting the education, personal relationships, addictive behavior and mental/physical health of Americans today all-too-often shares the common denominator of childhood sexual abuse.

Not surprisingly, most of us find the thought of childhood sexual abuse extremely disturbing. Sadly, that aversion has caused generations of Americans to skirt this social epidemic rather than address it head-on.

Surely a nation founded on democratic doctrine and upheld as a beacon of hope to the world, a society that can land men on the moon and recover lost treasures from unfathomable sea depths – surely such a nation can live up to its moral obligations as well.

By striving to prevent the sexual exploitation of America's children and youth, we prevent a legion of related social problems that rob our county of its full potential. Lest we forget: Children make up only 30% of our population, but a full 100% of our future as a nation. They depend on us to protect them. Let's not let them down.

Poor School Performance/Drop Out:
Victimized children had IQs 13 points below the general average of 100 and severely depressed reading abilities.

Smoking:
Smoking is strongly associated with adverse childhood experiences (i.e. sexual, emotional or physical abuse; battered mother; parental separation or divorce; growing up with a substance-abusing, mentally ill or incarcerated household member.) Primary prevention of adverse childhood experiences and improved treatment of exposed children could reduce smoking among both adolescents and adults.

Drug & Alcohol Abuse:
Sexually victimized children appear to be at a threefold risk for substance abuse.

Men who have been sexually abused have higher rates of psychological problems, alchohol misuse and self-destructive behavior than men who have not been abused.

Violence/Arrests:
Abused or neglected children are 67 times more likely to be arrested between ages 9-12 than those who aren't.


Approximately 31% of women in prison state they were sexually abused as children.

Teen Pregnancy:
62% of pregnant and parenting adolescents had experienced molestation, attempted rape, or rape prior to their first pregnancy.


74% of women who had intercourse before age 14 report a history of forced sexual intercourse.


Between 11% and 20% of girls were pregnant as a direct result of rape.

Women on Welfare:
Over the last decade, six surveys of welfare recipients have produced estimates of sexual abuse that are both diverse and strikingly high. In Paterson, N.J., 24% of the recipients surveyed said they had been sexually abused as children. The figure was 25% in Michigan, 28% in Chicago, 38% in Washington State, 41% in Utah and 42% in Worcester, Mass.

"It is extremely common," said Kathryn Edin, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who has interviewed hundreds of women on welfare. "Nobody in the policy-making community talks about this, and they should."

Runaways:
Abused and neglected children were more than twice as likely to run away from home than non-abused children.

Over 1,200 kids run away from home every day. It is estimated that 5% (60 kids) are suffering from sexual or physical abuse.

Prostitution:
Approximately 95% of teenage prostitutes have been sexually abused.

HIV Infection:
1 in 5 reported AIDS cases is diagnosed in the 20-29 year age group: (the incubation period between HIV infection and AIDS diagnosis is about 10 years) Therefore, many diagnosed in their 20s became infected as teenagers.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases:
Every year 3 million teens acquire a STD.

Low Self-Esteem/Depression/Suicide:
Abused girls were twice as likely as non-abused girls to:

• Have low self-confidence
• Suffer depression
• Engage in bingeing or purging behavior

Adolescent boys who were sexually or physically abused were:

• 3X more likely to suffer from depression
• 2X as likely to have suicidal thoughts
• 4X as likely to engage in bingeing or purging than non-abused boys