Child Sexual Abuse Research Articles

Review of Policies and Practices to Prevent Technology-Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-Serving Organizations in the United States

ABSTRACT Technology-facilitated child sexual abuse (TF-CSA), or child sexual abuse that occurs online or through electronic communication, is a preventable public health problem that can be addressed within youth-serving organizations (YSOs). This study is a review of a purposive sample of organizational policies and practices designed to prevent TF-CSA collected from 13 national and local YSOs in the United States. Documents were coded to identify practices to prevent TF-CSA related to YSO activities or YSO staff, volunteers, or participants. Qualitative analysis indicated that YSOs included seven common practices to prevent TF-CSA in their documents. These practices included transparent electronic communication between youth and YSO staff; codes of conduct and online behavior agreements related to youth; monitoring the YSO’s online presence; parental controls for youth online activity; safety behaviors for online activity for staff, parents, and youth; parent and youth trainings for youth online engagement and prevention of TF-CSA; and practices to address staff policy violations. Most prevention practices documented by YSOs identified in this study are consistent with emerging literature on TF-CSA prevention. Key gaps include protections for youth from groups inequitably burdened by TF-CSA and evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of practices in preventing TF-CSA across settings and populations.

Exploring women’s pathways to homelessness using the life history calendar1

ABSTRACT Introduction: Trauma history is a major risk factor for homelessness because of debilitating mental health and trauma symptoms that reduce a survivor’s ability to maintain healthy psychological functioning. Method: The objective of this study was to explore trauma exposure among a group of homeless mothers (N-30) using a novel data-gathering tool, the Life History Calendar (LHC). Participants completed a questionnaire consisting of several standardized scales and participated in a 90-minute LHC interview. Results: All participants (100%) reported at least one type of trauma experience in their lifetime; the majority (76.6%) reported an unstable and chaotic home environment and bullying and teasing as significant traumatic stressors. Other reported stressors included witnessing violence, intimate partner violence, grief and loss, childhood sexual abuse, physical/emotional/verbal abuse, and sexual assault. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed psychological symptoms; 77% met the criteria for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, and 42.3% endorsed severe PTSD symptoms. Conclusion: This study increases our understanding of the traumatic experiences of a group of homeless mothers by identifying critical periods in their lives when their traumas occurred. Supporting at-risk groups during these periods can play a significant role in averting their trajectory toward homelessness.

Study on the Dilemma of Judicial Recognition and Regulatory Path of Child Molestation in Network Spacing

The characteristics of cyber-indecent molestation, based on the fact that they are committed over space, are controversial when it comes to determining indecent assault offences. Even though the judicial interpretations provide for some of the criteria for determining cyber-indecency offences against minors, there are still dilemmas in the determination of cyber-indecency offences in terms of the manner of the act, the distinction between the applicable targets of the circumstances, and the aggravating circumstances. In order to further advance the judicial application, the mandatory nature of cyber-space molestation offences should be clearly defined, and the time point for the completion of cyber-space molestation of children should be clarified, so as to further clarify the determination of aggravating circumstances of cyber-space molestation of children, and to construct a typological criminal law application system.

Understanding Post-Traumatic Growth in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) involves a positive transformation in the survivor’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to life. However, little is known about the factors facilitating PTG in adolescent survivors of childhood sexual abuse. This study examined how potential variables (self-concept, dissociation, the severity of the abuse, and distress symptoms) contribute and interact to account for perceived PTG in a sample of 70 Israeli adolescents, all survivors of childhood sexual abuse, along with one of their parents. It also explored how survivors’ self-concept, the tendency for dissociation, and distress symptoms moderated the association between abuse severity and PTG. Regression decision trees and linear regression models addressed the study’s questions. The results of the regression trees indicated that survivors with low global self-concept had lower levels of PTG, whereas survivors with high global self-concept and low tendencies for dissociation displayed higher levels of PTG. The linear regression analysis also pointed to the contribution of abuse severity and survivors’ global self-concept to PTG. A positive association was only found between abuse severity and PTG for survivors with moderate to high global self-concept. The discussion centers on the combined pivotal role of positive global self-concept, low dissociation, and abuse severity in facilitating adolescents’ PTG.

Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism Perpetration: An Expansion of the Ecosystem Model.

The sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (SECTT), also referred to as child sex tourism, involves engaging in sexual activity with someone under the age of 18 in the context of travel and/or tourism. Research on the perpetration of SECTT is vastly underdeveloped. The present review considers the operationalization of SECTT, its prevalence, and existing theoretical models. Existing theory on SECTT provides a good overview of environmental factors that contribute to SECTT, but the model is insufficient in fully accounting for individual-level risk factors related to sexual offending against children. The present paper expands an existing theoretical model of SECTT, the ecosystem model, to account for these individual risk factors and considers their interaction with environmental factors. The paper concludes by highlighting different avenues for future research.

Rape, law and stories of trauma: representations of sexual violence in The Australian Women’s Weekly, 1970–82

The 1970s ushered in a period of significant feminist activism, public debate and judicial reform on issues of rape and child sexual abuse. In this article, I examine how The Australian Women’s Weekly raised and navigated the issue of rape from its commercial position as a conservative-leaning publication between 1970 and 1982. It seeks to understand mainstream Australian women’s attitudes towards sexual assault and how they evolved under emerging feminist critique.

Exploring the theory and ethics of autoethnographic social research with adult survivors of childchood sexual abuse (CSA)

This paper deals with the phenomenon of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) as an experience of those overpowered by it in the past: the survivors. It introduces on-going autoethnographic social research, on survivors of CSA by a survivor of CSA. The theoretical foundation and context of the research is delved into in detail, before giving an outline of ongoing research of the author. The empowerment theory is used as the main theoretical orientation, tagging other related concepts onto it, before linking it to the research methodology. This practice is autoethnographic and arts-based, as well as activist, as it has the aim at being a tool to empower both the participant and researcher alike. Ethics of such research are considered and ethical approaches are proposed, in order to strike a balance between protection and safety, as well as participation and visibility. This paper frames the act of abuse as overpowering, and focuses on the subsequent process of empowerment, post-abuse. The research has two main agendas: to keep the body in the forefront of the investigation, defined as every part of the human body, including the mind; and the survivors' process of empowerment. The paper ends with conclusions and considerations based on the theoretical framework but also the hypothetical, not yet conducted part of the research. This paper gives an insight into the process of research development, a snapshot of the journey of a novel researcher.

Scalable Image Clustering to screen for self-produced CSAM

The number of cases involving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) has increased dramatically in recent years, resulting in significant backlogs. To protect children in the suspect’s sphere of influence, immediate identification of self-produced CSAM among acquired CSAM is paramount. Currently, investigators often rely on an approach based on a simple metadata search. However, this approach faces scalability limitations for large cases and is ineffective against anti-forensic measures. Therefore, to address these problems, we bridge the gap between digital forensics and state-of-the-art data science clustering approaches. Our approach enables clustering of more than 130,000 images, which is eight times larger than previous achievements, using commodity hardware and within an hour with the ability to scale even further. In addition, we evaluate the effectiveness of our approach on seven publicly available forensic image databases, taking into account factors such as anti-forensic measures and social media post-processing. Our results show an excellent median clustering-precision (Homogeinity) of 0.92 on native images and a median clustering-recall (Completeness) of over 0.92 for each test set. Importantly, we provide full reproducibility using only publicly available algorithms, implementations, and image databases.

Measuring teacher's capabilities: Development of the CSA-SE scale for assessing teachers' self-efficacy in addressing suspected cases of child sexual abuse

Measuring teacher's capabilities: Development of the CSA-SE scale for assessing teachers' self-efficacy in addressing suspected cases of child sexual abuse

Peran Guru dalam Mengenalkan Pendidikan Seks sebagai Perlindungan Anak Usia Dini dari Pelecehan Seksual di Tk Aisyiyah Kota Bukittinggi

Early childhood's lack of understanding about sexual abuse means they don't want to talk and tell their parents when they experience abuse from other people, even those closest to them. Education about sex has a very good role, one of which is that it is useful as self-protection for children from the threat of sexual harassment. The function of this research is knowledge about sexual prevention which can reduce the incidence of sexual abuse in early childhood. Therefore, education regarding appropriate and good sexual prevention for early childhood is very important so that children have adequate provisions from an early age. The aim of this research is to determine the role of teachers as educators to provide education on the prevention of sexual harassment to young children at Aisyiyah Kindergarten. The method in this research is qualitative research, observation methods such as data collection, interviews and documentation. Data analysis by reducing data, presenting data and verifying data. The validity of the data was tested using triangulation techniques. This research obtained results where the role of teachers in introducing sex education to early childhood at Aisyiyah Kindergarten in sexual prevention was considered to be good, this can be known through teachers who act as teachers, educators and as facilitators for early childhood. The teacher displays the video Kuga I as the main asset for children in preventing sexual harassment, as well as facilitating education on preventing sexual harassment with pictures or posters to make it easier for children to remember.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Compulsive Sexual Behavior Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Newly Diagnosed with HIV

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) continues to be a public health challenge. The prevalence of experiencing CSA is higher among men who have sex with men (MSM) than the general population. CSA has been linked to compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) among varying populations but has not been examined among MSM who were newly diagnosed with HIV. Therefore, the aims of this study were to assess the direct association between CSA and CSB among newly diagnosed MSM living with HIV, and to identify the potential mediating roles of depressive symptoms and emotion regulation in the association between CSA and CSB. The study was a secondary data analysis using data obtained from 2012 to 2017 from two community HIV clinics in New York City (n = 202). CSA was operationalized with questions asking about sexual abuse during childhood/adolescence. CSB was measured using the 13-item Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI). Depressive symptoms were measured using the 20-item Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale and emotion regulation was measured using a 36-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Path analysis was conducted to determine the mediating role of depressive symptoms and emotion regulation in the association between CSA and CSB. There was a statistically significant association between CSA and CSB (β = 0.160; p = 0.019). There were statistically significant indirect associations between CSA, depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and CSB (depressive symptoms β = 0.0.071; p = 0.010; DERS: β = 0.080; p = 0.006). Depressive symptoms were also correlated with emotion regulation (r = 0.596; p < 0.001). The relationship between CSA and CSB was significantly mediated by depressive symptoms and emotion regulation. Trauma-informed interventions addressing depressive symptoms and difficulties in emotion regulation may help to reduce CSB among MSM living with HIV.

Genital Lichen sclerosus mistaken for child sexual abuse and genital mutilation

Genital Lichen sclerosus mistaken for child sexual abuse and genital mutilation

Childhood sexual abuse and IL6 mediated by change in BMI over an 18-year period: A growth curve model

BackgroundChildhood sexual abuse can increase both body weight and inflammation later in life. Higher weight or faster changes in weight, as measured by changes in body mass index (BMI), may mediate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and inflammation, however, most studies to date have used a cross-sectional design limiting causal inferences. ObjectiveThe current study aimed to investigate the interrelationships between childhood sexual abuse, BMI, and C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL6).Participants and Setting.Data from 461 adults who participated in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study were utilized. MethodsGrowth curve modeling was used to test initial levels of BMI and changes of BMI over an 18-year period as mediators linking childhood sexual abuse to CRP and IL6. ResultsSexual abuse was not significantly associated with the initial level of BMI; however, sexual abuse was associated with the slope of BMI (b = 0.072, p = .006). BMI intercept (b = 0.080, p = .001) and slope (b = 0.240, p = .002) predicted IL6 values whereas the slope of BMI (b = 0.398, p = .033) but not intercept predicted CRP values. The indirect effect from sexual abuse to IL6 through BMI slope was significant (b = 0.017, 95 % [CI.001, 0.033]) while the indirect effect from sexual abuse to CRP through BMI slope was not significant (b = 0.028, 95 % [CI -0.004, 0.061]). ConclusionChildhood sexual abuse was indirectly associated with IL6 through rates of change in BMI over time.

Overview of Parents' Behavior in Providing Sexual Education to Children aged 7-11 Years in the Kuranji Health Center Working Area, Padang City

Background: Cases of child sexual abuse are on the rise worldwide. Parents are the primary source of socialization and play an important role in shaping children's attitudes and practices related to sexuality. Objective: To determine the description of parental behavior in providing sexual education to children aged 7-11 years. Methods: This study is a descriptive study. The population in the study were all parents who have children aged 7-11 years. The research was conducted in August-December 2023. The research sample amounted to 379 people, with purposive sampling technique. The research instrument used a questionnaire that included knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. Data were analyzed using SPSS software to display frequency distribution. Results: Parents' knowledge is lacking (52.5%), parents' attitudes are not supportive (50.7%), parents with negative perceptions (50.4%), parents' trust is not good (56.5%), and parents' behavior is not good (51.5%). Conclusion: Most parents' behavior is not good in providing sexual education to children. Education and counseling programs are needed for parents to improve their knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors related to children's sexual education.

Trauma-related symptoms in adolescents: the differential roles of sexual abuse and mentalizing.

Major gaps remain in our knowledge regarding childhood sexual abuse (CSA) related symptoms in adolescent psychiatric inpatients, as well as potential resilience factors like mentalizing. CSA is a risk factor for the early emergence of borderline personality features, posttraumatic stress, and sexual concerns. Mentalizing, which involves the capacity to understand our reactions and that of others in psychological terms, is a resilience factor for self and interpersonal functioning. The aim of this study was to address knowledge gaps by examining the contributions of CSA and mentalizing in a latent factor composed of borderline personality features, posttraumatic stress, and sexual concerns in a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients. We hypothesized that CSA and mentalizing would independently explain the variance in this latent factor. Participants were 273 adolescents aged 12-17 recruited from an adolescent inpatient psychiatric clinic. They completed the Reflective Function Questionnaire for Youth (RFQ-Y), the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC), and the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-C). CSA was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview (CAI), the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (C-DISC), as well as the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). 27.5% of adolescent psychiatric inpatients reported CSA. CSA and mentalizing were independently associated with a latent factor consisting of posttraumatic stress, borderline personality features, and sexual concerns. CSA explained 5.0% and RF explained 16.7% of the variance of the latent factor. When we consider both the unique and the shared contribution of CSA and mentalizing, the model explained 23.0% of the variance of this factor. CSA and mentalizing independently explained variance in a latent factor constituted of borderline personality features, posttraumatic stress, and sexual concerns. The direct effect of mentalizing was stronger and mentalizing explained comparatively more variance of trauma-related symptoms in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. The findings are consistent with the theory that mentalizing is an internal resilience factor in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. By implication, clinical interventions focused on promoting the development of mentalizing, such as Mentalization Based Treatment, may palliate mental health difficulties manifested by adolescent psychiatric inpatients including those associated with CSA.

‘Let’s excuse abusive men from abusing and enable sexual abuse’: child sexual abuse investigations in England’s private family courts

ABSTRACT Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is an ongoing scourge upon society. There is minimal understanding of the experiences of mothers and children in private law family court proceedings (PLP), when CSA is reported. A qualitative study was conducted and a feminist-informed Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was applied to understand ten life-stories from within a larger sample of 45. Five themes are presented. CSA was overwhelmingly reported as being minimised, with harmful outcomes for children and mothers reported. Pro-father and ‘parental alienation’ narratives were a facilitator of severe harm and continued male violence to victim-survivor mothers and children. Further research into the scale and prevalence of CSA within PLP is urgently required.

Lessons from the Teca Ho/New Voices Project on Best Practices for Interviewing Native Youth Survivors of Sex Trafficking

Although there are high rates of commercial sexual exploitation of Native American children, there are still not established best practices for interviewing them about their experiences. This pilot study sought to learn more about best practices for interviewing Native including gender diverse youth in the United States about sex trafficking. In the process, lessons were learned about conducting this kind of research. The initial practices suggested included ways of linking with participants, incorporating culturally-specific healing elements, orienting clinicians to cultural humility and agility, and preparing to provide a clear rationale for how and why the information learned would be disseminated.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: Research to Inform Promising Approaches in Prevention, Intervention, and Evaluation Research–Introduction to the Special Issue

ABSTRACT The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a public health crises in the United States and results in myriad negative health outcomes. Efficacious CSEC prevention and response efforts are hindered by limited understanding of risk and protective factors for CSEC victimization, knowledge of post-CSEC recovery, best practices for conducting CSEC research, and by a dearth of CSEC research instruments. The contributors of this Special Issue represent a broad array of disciplines, training, and methodological approaches; together, we share the latest developments in prevention, intervention and evaluation for ameliorating the sexual exploitation of children and youth. http://go.unl.edu/projectlive_abmeeting.

Time lost as a result of wrongful conviction: the impact of race and official misconduct across offense categories

Wrongful convictions represent a significant form of injustice. Prior studies have described the impact of suspect and case characteristics on the likelihood of wrongful conviction. Less is known about the relative influence of these factors, particularly suspect race and official misconduct, on time lost following wrongful conviction, or the extent to which these relationships vary by conviction type. The current study addresses these questions through application of negative binomial regression and Clogg tests to cases of wrongful conviction for murder, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and drug possession listed in the National Registry of Exonerations (n = 2349). Our findings indicate the relative influence of suspect race and official misconduct on time lost varies by type of conviction.

The effect of beliefs and self‐efficacy on the levels of sexual abuse‐related anxiety in parents of children with disabilities

AbstractThis study was conducted to investigate the relationship between self‐efficacy, sexual abuse‐related anxiety and belief levels of the parents of children receiving special education support. The study was descriptively conducted with the parents of 141 students who received special education in primary school in Kayseri in the 2021–2022 academic year. Parent information form, Parental Beliefs Form on Child Sexual Abuse (PBFCSA), Sexual Abuse Parental Anxiety Scale (SAPAS) and Parental Self‐Efficacy Instrument for Children with Disabilities (PSICD) were used in the study. Independent samples t test, Pearson rank correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis were used for data analysis. In the study, statistically significant and positive correlations were found between parental beliefs about sexual abuse and anxiety about sexual abuse (r = 0.318; 95% CI [0.188, 0.438]), between anxiety about sexual abuse and parental self‐efficacy (r = 0.389; 95% CI [0.213, 0.531]) and between parental beliefs about sexual abuse and parental self‐efficacy (r = 0.324; 95% CI [0.116, 0.514]). In the study, it was found that 24.4% of parental anxiety was explained by parental self‐efficacy, beliefs about sexual abuse, parent status, working status and age. In the study, a weak but positive and significant relationship was found between parental beliefs about sexual abuse and anxiety about sexual abuse. It is recommended that studies should be conducted to determine appropriate coping methods for parents' concerns about sexual abuse and to monitor changes in their beliefs and self‐efficacy. In addition, it is predicted that applied studies addressing self‐efficacy and beliefs should be conducted to understand how levels of anxiety might be reduced.