This article contains affiliate links. Fight the New Drug may receive financial support from purchases made using affiliate links.
Did you know that child sexual abuse affects every race, every income level, every age, and every neighborhood?
Chances are, you know someone who is a survivor of child sexual abuse. The question isn’t whether there are children in your community who have experienced or are experiencing abuse; the question is how many.
So let’s talk about rates of child sexual abuse and how it happens.
1. More than 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys are sexually abused or assaulted before they turn 18, according to an analysis of national surveys in the U.S.Finkelhor, D., Shattuck, A., Turner, H. A., & Hamby, S. L. (2014). The lifetime prevalence of child sexual abuse and sexual assault assessed in late adolescence. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 55(3), 329–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.12.026Copy While child sexual exploitation can be a difficult topic to discuss, education and awareness can help to prevent and combat further harm.
2. One study revealed that 1 in 3 children won’t disclose sexual abuse until adulthood (if they choose to disclose it at all). Among those least likely to disclose abuse are younger children, male victims, and those who have never before disclosed abuse.Azzopardi, C., Eirich, R., Rash, C. L., MacDonald, S., & Madigan, S. (2019). A meta-analysis of the prevalence of child sexual abuse disclosure in forensic settings. Child Abuse & Neglect, 93, 291-304. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.020Copy
3. According to one longitudinal study, 85.8% of child sexual abuse survivors developed mental health issues, 44% experienced suicide ideation, 14.2% had attempted suicide, 19.1% experienced alcohol dependence, and 22% experienced illicit substance addiction.Fergusson, D. M., McLeod, G. F., & Horwood, L. J. (2013). Childhood sexual abuse and adult developmental outcomes: findings from a 30-year longitudinal study in New Zealand. Child abuse & neglect, 37(9), 664–674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.03.013Copy
4. While most estimates of child sexual abuse focus primarily on contact abuse, online forms of child sexual exploitation are becoming increasingly common and have increased during the pandemic. Through the use of technology, abusers can exploit children without ever coming into physical contact with them.ECPAT. (2021). Summary paper on online child sexual exploitation.ECPAT. Retrieved from https://ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ECPAT-Summary-paper-on-Online-Child-Sexual-Exploitation-2020.pdfCopy Parks, A., Sparre, C., Söderquist, E., Arver, S., Andersson, G., Kaldo, V., Görts-Öberg, K., Rahm, C. (2020). Illegal online sexual behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for action based on experiences from the ongoing prevent it research study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(5), 1433-1435. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01750-7Copy
5. Technology is increasingly being used to groom young people for sexual abuse. According to research on victims who were trafficked in 2015, over half (55%) met their traffickers through the use of technology (i.e. online enticement, texting, app usage).Bouché, V. (2018). Survivor insights: The role of technology in domestic minor sex trafficking. Thorn. Retrieved from https://www.thorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Thorn_Survivor_Insights_090519.pdfCopy
6. Another increasingly common form of child sexual exploitation is image-based abuse (sometimes called “revenge porn”) and/or child sexual exploitation material (sometimes called “child porn” or “CSEM”). With this in mind, it’s important to remember that:
- Any explicit content of a minor is legally considered “child pornography,” even if a child takes an image or video of themself.
- 1 in 3 underage teens say they have seen nonconsensually shared nudes of other minors.Thorn. (2020). Thorn research: Understanding sexually explicit images, self-produced by children. Retrieved from https://www.thorn.org/blog/thorn-research-understanding-sexually-explicit-images-self-produced-by-children/Copy
7. The Internet Watch Foundation recently reported that in 2020, approximately 44% of all child sexual abuse material reported to the IWF involved self-generated material. That’s a 16% increase from 2019 when only a third of reports involved self-generated imagery.Internet Watch Foundation. (2021). The annual report 2020: Self-generated child sexual abuse. Retrieved from https://annualreport2020.iwf.org.uk/trends/international/selfgeneratedCopy
8. While there’s no way to eliminate all chances of abuse for yourself or your loved ones, working to educate yourself on consent, internet safety, abuse prevention, and recognizing the signs of abuse can help reduce risk.
If you have experienced or are experiencing sexual abuse, please know that you are not alone and that healing is absolutely possible. You can find healing resources at Saprea.org and social support at FindingHope.org.
Keep your kids safer online
Bark is the internet safety solution that parents trust and children like, if you can believe it. Bark is an easy-to-use, smart tool that parents can use to help protect their children online.
Bark uses a highly advanced algorithm to alert parents when it detects potential threats or signs of danger, such as:
Bark is a common-sense tool that can augment a parent’s efforts to protect their children online. Parents trust Bark because it uses advanced technologies to alert them to potential online dangers without them reading through all of their child’s online activities, preserving their valuable time (and sanity). Kids like Bark because they are free to continue their daily digital lives without their parents constantly peering over their shoulders.
You can start protecting your children online today! Try Bark for FREE for 30 days, or get your teen or tween the Bark Phone with Bark’s parental controls built-in! Get started by visiting ftnd.org/bark.
Keep your kids safer online
Bark is the internet safety solution that parents trust and children like, if you can believe it. Bark is an easy-to-use, smart tool that parents can use to help protect their children online.
Bark uses a highly advanced algorithm to alert parents when it detects potential threats or signs of danger, such as:
- Cyberbullying
- Internet Predators
- Depression
- Suicidal Thoughts
- Sexting
Bark is a common-sense tool that can augment a parent's efforts to protect their children online. Parents trust Bark because it uses advanced technologies to alert them to potential online dangers without them reading through all of their child's online activities, preserving their valuable time (and sanity). Kids like Bark because they are free to continue their daily digital lives without their parents constantly peering over their shoulders.
You can start protecting your children online today! Try Bark for FREE for 30 days, or get your teen or tween the Bark Phone with Bark's parental controls built-in!
Fight the New Drug may receive financial support from purchases made using affiliate links.
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
This is why Fight the New Drug exists—but we can’t do it without you.
Your donation directly fuels the creation of new educational resources, including our awareness-raising videos, podcasts, research-driven articles, engaging school presentations, and digital tools that reach youth where they are: online and in school. It equips individuals, parents, educators, and youth with trustworthy resources to start the conversation.
Will you join us? We’re grateful for whatever you can give—but a recurring donation makes the biggest difference. Every dollar directly supports our vital work, and every individual we reach decreases sexual exploitation. Let’s fight for real love: