National & NC Sexual Abuse Data

Vol. 5, No. 2
June 2000

National and North Carolina Sexual Abuse Data

In 1991, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported 129,697 substantiated and indicated child victims of sexual abuse.

An estimate of actual cases of child sexual abuse per year in the United States is 250,000 to 300,000.

Between 6 and 62 percent of women report being sexually abused as children (Wylie). Finkelhor's study found that 27 percent of women reported being abused.

Between 3 and 24 percent of men report being sexually abused (Wylie). Finkelhor's study found 16 percent of men reported sexual abuse.

The median age of abuse was 9.9 years for boys and 9.6 years for girls.

Some studies indicate that girls are far more likely than boys to be victims of sexual abuse; in 1997, 76.6 percent of sexually-abused children were females (USDHHS, 1997). However, boys may be victimized nearly as often as girls, but may not be as likely to disclose the abuse.

In 1997-98 there were 1,453, substantiated child sexual abuse cases in North Carolina.

References

Guidelines for the evaluation of sexual abuse of children: Subject review. (1999, January). Pediatrics, 103(1), 186-192.

National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse. (1994, June). Statistics in child sexual abuse. Huntsville, AL: Author.

North Carolina Department on Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services. (1999). Central registry reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. Raleigh, NC: Author.

Sinal, S. H. (1994, December). Sexual abuse of children and adolescents. Southern Medical Journal, 87(12), 1242-1259.

United States Department of Health and Human Services. (1997). Child maltreatment 1997: Reports from states to the national child abuse and neglect data system. Washington, DC: Author.