WHO DOES IT AFFECT?

Everyone. Child Sexual Abuse spans demographics, ethnicities, cultures, and religions. Though the occurrence is higher with girls (78% to 89% of victims are girls⁽¹⁴⁾, many boys are also affected and traumatized by the act.

Nearly 70% of all sexual assaults, including assaults on adults, occur in children ages 17 and younger.⁽¹⁴⁾ As with all data surrounding child sexual abuse, there is discrepancy among researchers as to which age group is most at risk. One national study, using information from law enforcement agencies found that 14% of sexual assault victims are ages 0-5, 20% are ages 6-11 and 33% are ages 12-17.⁽¹⁴⁾

Again, this can be misleading because it most likely is underestimated; this data is from law enforcement agencies, but what about those children whose cases are never reported? What do they look like? How old are they? Where do they come from? Current data only shows us the tip of the iceberg; this is truly a silent epidemic.