Global Perspective on Child Sexual Abuse: Meta-Analysis of Prevalence Around the World

• NCJ Number: 235169
• Journal: Child Maltreatment Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2011 Pages: 79-101
• Author(s): Marije Stoltenborgh; Marinus H. van IJzendoorn; Eveline M. Euser; Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg
• Date Published: May 2011
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 452-04-306
• Sponsoring Agency: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined global data on childhood sexual abuse (CSA).

Abstract

The authors comprehensive meta-analysis combined prevalence figures of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) reported in 217 publications published between 1980 and 2008, including 331 independent samples with a total of 9,911,748 participants. The overall estimated CSA prevalence was 127/1000 in self-report studies and 4/1000 in informant studies. Self-reported CSA was more common among female (180/1000) than among male participants (76/1000). Lowest rates for both girls (113/1000) and boys (41/1000) were found in Asia, and highest rates were found for girls in Australia (215/1000) and for boys in Africa (193/1000). The results of our meta-analysis confirm that CSA is a global problem of considerable extent, but also show that methodological issues drastically influence the self-reported prevalence of CSA. (Published Abstract)