The evaluation of child sexual abuse in child advocacy center: one year experience of a single center

Abstract

Objective: Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) are multidisciplinary centers that evaluate child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. In Turkey, CACs, first in Ankara, has been established all around the country. This study is conducted to evaluate the CSA cases’ demographic findings, admission types, diagnosis and outcomes in the first year of Izmir CAC. Methods: The data of 943 cases were evaluated retrospectively and 848 child diagnosed as CSA were accepted as the study group. Descriptive statistical analysis were performed. Results: The mean age of the study group was 14.1±3.3 with female/male ratio 5.73. The most common presentation type was sexual abuse due to peer relations of adolescent girls. The most frequent admission type was by law enforcement while the most common presentation by medical services was from psychiatry clinics. The 60% of the study group defined CSA with contact while 27% defined penetration. The perpetrators were frequently (60%) recognized persons before CSA, most of them were friend/boyfriends and darlings. The frequency of incest cases was 10.7%. The most frequent perpetrator of incest cases were fathers. The 99% of perpetrators were males in the study group while 100% in the incest group. Forty eight percent of the study group required forensic examination but the diagnostic value was 32%. Discussion: CACs are functional centers in evaluating child sexual abuse cases in a multidisciplinary approach. As the most common type of admissions is sexual abuse due to peer relations in adolescents, we suggest that preventive social works should focus on this issue.