Myths & Facts Concerning Incest And Child Molestation

Myth: The adult sex offender of a child is usually a stranger.
Fact: In four out of five cases, children are abused by people known to them. In half of the cases where the child knows the assailant, the adult is a relative.

Myth: Physical trauma is the main concern of child sexual abuse because the children are usually severely injured.
Fact: Violent attacks on children and forced penetration occur in only five percent of all cases. The child is not usually harmed physically.

Myth: Child victims come from lower socio-economic families.
Fact: Sexual abuse can happen to any child regardless of age, race or neighborhood. Middle class and upper class families are more capable of concealing abuse. Usually the victim and assailant are of the same race and economic level.

Myth: Most cases of child sexual abuse are reported.
Fact: Very few child sexual abuse cases are ever reported, particularly when the assailant is a relative. When the assault is reported it is rare that the case goes to trial, primarily because of the difficulty obtaining proof, the humiliation felt by the family and their fear of revenge or additional trauma to the child. Children are also seen as poor witnesses in court and often have difficulty remembering exactly what happened.

Myth: Male children are sexually abused as often as female children.
Fact: Boys are not sexually abused as frequently as girls. Ninety percent of incestuously abused vctims are girls. One out of every four female children are sexually abused by the time she reaches the age of 18 and one out of every ten male children are sexually abused by the time he reaches the age of 18.

Myth: Sexual abuse of children is rare.
Fact: No one can say accurately how many cases of child sexual abuse exist because most go unreported. However, 19% of violent State prison inmates committed their crime against a child. Seventy-eight percent of those convicted of sexual assault had abused a child. Studies reflect numbers as high as 5,000,000 or more yearly in the United States.