Child Sexual Abuse affects over 20% of the American population
It is hard to come up with a completely accurate statistic for child sexual abuse, many instances of abuse remain undisclosed, largely due to the victims fear or shame. However, it has been commonly stated that 1 in 4 women will abused by the age of 16, and 1 in 6 men will also be abused by the age of 16, resulting in an average of 20% of our population being affected by this silent epidemic.(3)
What are the effects?
Child sexual abuse affects us all - as adults begin to disclose their childhood histories we can correlate the effects to earlier abuse. Victims of abuse are more likely to suffer adverse effects of the trauma including:
Physical and Mental Health Problems
- PTSD (4,5,9,13)
- Major Depressive Disorders (9,13)
- Eating disorders in adolescent females (5,8,15)
- Headaches
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
- 70-80% of victims report excessive drug and alcohol use. (4,5,15)
- Sexual Health Problems (7,10,11,12)
- Victims of child sexual abuse are more likely to be sexually promiscuous than non-victims.
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