Factors associated with an increased risk of being sexually abused during childhood (0-18 years of age)

An update of this section is due in 2025.

Risk factors for sexual assault are conditions, circumstances or characteristics associated with an individual or his or her environment that increase the likelihood of the individual becoming a perpetrator or a victim of sexual assault. The presence of one or more risk factors is not a cause of sexual assault, but it can increase the risk that sexual assault will occur.1

  • Anyone can be sexually assaulted during his or her lifetime. However, children and young people with certain characteristics account for a larger share of sexual abuse victims.
  • Few factors have as yet been clearly identified by researchers as increasing the risk that a child or a young person will be sexually abused. However, it is well known that a child or young person’s stage of development and gender contribute to the risk.
  • In addition, certain characteristics have been identified as being more likely to be found in families where children experience sexual abuse. These characteristics may affect the parents’ ability to properly supervise their children. Family problems also seem to increase children’s vulnerability to sexual abuse by contributing to the presence of characteristics sought by perpetrators.
  • The community and societal factors identified as being associated with an increased risk that children and young people will be sexually abused show that sexual abuse is a social phenomenon that concerns the population as a whole.
  • Identifying factors that are associated with an increased risk that children will experience sexual abuse helps to better plan preventive interventions in the area of sexual abuse by making it possible to target higher-risk groups and act on the risk factors concerned.

Individual factors2,3,4,5

Certain individual factors have been associated with an increased likelihood of being sexually abused as a child. The most consistently reported factors include: being female, being between the ages of 6 and 11 (for intrafamilial sexual abuse alone), being between the ages of 12 and 17 (for extrafamilial sexual abuse alone), having experienced physical or sexual abuse in the past, and having special needs (handicap, intellectual disability, chronic illness, mental health problems).

Relationship/family factors2,3,4,5,6

Certain relationship factors have been associated with an increased risk of being sexually abused as a child. The most consistently reported factors include: limited supervision by parents, use of drugs and alcohol by parents, having parents with mental health problems, and being in a family where the mother’s spouse is not the child’s biological father (i.e. a stepfather family).

Community factors7,8

Community factors associated with an increased likelihood of being sexually abused as a child have been studied to only a limited extent thus far. However, some studies suggest that tolerance of sexual abuse and weak sanctions against sexual abuse within a community play a role in raising the risk.

Societal factors7,8

Various societal factors have been associated with an increased risk of being sexually abused as a child, in particular: hypersexualization of young people in a society, a history of denial in a society that child sexual abuse occurs, traditional norms regarding gender roles, the presence of an ideology of male sexual entitlement, weak legal sanctions against child sexual abuse, and social norms that support sexual abuse.

References

  1. Baril, K. and Tourigny, M. (2009). La violence sexuelle envers les enfants. In M.E. Clément and S. Dufour, eds., La violence à l’égard des enfants en milieu familial (pp.145-160). Anjou: Éditions CEC. (Available in French only)
  2. Black, D.A., Heyman, R.E. and Slep, A.M. (2001). Risk factors for child sexual abuse. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 6(2-3), 203-229.
  3. Finkelhor, D., and Baron, L. (1986). High-risk children. In D. Finkelhor (ed.), A Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse (pp. 60-88), Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
  4. Wolfe, V.V. (2007). Child sexual abuse. In E.J. Mash and R.A. Barkley (eds.), Assessment of Childhood Disorders (4th ed.) (pp. 685-748), New York: Guilford Press.
  5. Jewkes, R., Sen, P. and Garcia-Moreno, C. (2002). Sexual violence. In E.G. Krug, L.L. Dahlberg, J.A. Mercy, A. Zwi and R. Lozano-Ascencio, eds., World report on violence and health (pp.147-181). Geneva: World Health Organization.
  6. Putnam, F. (2003). Ten-year research update review: child sexual abuse. Journal of American Child Adolescence Psychiatry, 42(3), 269-278.
  7. World Health Organization (WHO), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. (2010). Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women. Taking action and generating evidence. Geneva: World Health Organization.
  8. Jewkes, R., Sen, P. and Garcia-Moreno, C. (2002). Sexual violence. In E.G. Krug, L.L. Dahlberg, J.A. Mercy, A. Zwi and R. Lozano-Ascencio, eds., World report on violence and health (pp. 147-181). Geneva: World Health Organization.