Statistics

Facts and figures relating to the childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault of males

Statistics are one way to try to develop a better picture of the extent of the problem of child sexual abuse or sexual assault in our community. They can help us to understand better who is assaulted, where, when, what are potential risk factors and where to direct resources to prevent further childhood sexual abuse or assault and ensure adequate support is available.

Prevalence and incidence

The statistics below provide a general snapshot of the reported prevalence, incidence and identified characteristics of sexual abuse and sexual assault of males. The statistics provided here are drawn from research studies and government statistics. A description of common problems that men subjected to sexual violence can experience can be found in the ‘Common Problems’ section of Living Well.

For those unfamiliar with statistics, an extensive discussion of how to read and make sense of statistics relating to the sexual abuse of males can be found at ‘Child Abuse: Statistics, Research and Resources’ http://jimhopper.com/abstats/. When reading this information it is useful to remember that statistics operate as a general guide; whatever the statistics say, every person will have their own particular story to tell.

Focus on Gender

Although most studies of child sexual abuse and sexual assault have focussed on females there is now a developing body of literature that provides information on the sexual victimisation of males. We have deliberately included some information relating to the sexual abuse of females as a way of highlighting how gender influences the prevalence, characteristics and experience of sexual abuse or sexual assault.

Child sexual abuse

Nowadays it is commonly accepted that:

• 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18.
• 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 18.
• This is equivalent to 332,516 Queensland men having experienced child sexual abuse.
• Over 30% of confirmed reports of child sexual abuse involve male victims. 

A large scale analysis in 1998 of 166 studies found that the reported prevalence rates of sexual abuse of boys varied between 4-76%, depending on the definition used and the population studied.  
Evidence suggests that in relation to boys:

• Most sexual abuse begins before puberty, typically around 10 years
• 90% of child sexual abuse of boys and young adolescents is perpetrated by males
• Threats of force and physical harm increased with age and male perpetration
• Boys younger than six are at greater risk for abuse by family and acquaintances
• Boys older than 12 years face an increased risk of abuse by strangers
• Whereas one group of studies have reported single incidents of sexual abuse, another group identified abuse persisting between 6-18 months. 

The risk of sexual abuse escalates if a boy

• Is a runaway
• Has a disability
• Is subjected to other forms of maltreatment in the home
• Comes from an impoverished and/or single-parent family
• Is in a hospital or institutional setting.

The Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle “Little Children are Sacred” report, anecdotal evidence, case studies and submissions to inquiries support the assumption that sexual violence in indigenous communities occurs at rates that exceed that for non-indigenous communities.

While there are no typical circumstances that boys find themselves in when abused, compared to girls boys are more likely to be:

• Abused outside the home
• Subjected to extra familial abuse
• Abused around witnesses; and
• Abused by a female or male and female together .

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2008 statistics tell us

• In all jurisdictions, girls were approximately three times more likely than boys to be the subject of a substantiation of sexual abuse.
• Boys were generally more likely than girls to be the subject of a substantiation of physical abuse.
• The rates of substantiated abuse or neglect decreased as age increased.
• Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were more likely to be the subject of substantiated reports than were other children. Across Australia, indigenous children were more than 5 times as likely as other children to be the subject of a substantiation.

Sexual abuse of males by females

Although the majority of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by males, studies suggest approximately 5% of females and 20% of males are abused by a female.  In relation to the sexual abuse of males by females research indicates that:

• Males are less likely to identify sexual contact they had with an adult woman when they were a child as sexual abuse.    
• Up to half of female perpetration of sexual abuse is by adolescent aged babysitters.
• In over 90% of reported cases, females use persuasion rather than actual or threatened force when committing an offence of sexual abuse.
• Up to one third of boys who identify as being abused say curiosity led to their participation in sexual contact with older females.

Large scale study comparing males and females experiences

The table below provides a useful snapshot of the prevalence and characteristics of sexual abuse of males and females taken from a large scale study published in 2005.

Note that clearly although females are more likely to be sexually abused (24.7% to 16%), in this study there is a higher number of males than females reporting ‘completed intercourse’.

Australian victims of sexual assault statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has calculated the number of reported victims of sexual assault in Australia 2006 per 100,000 people according to age and gender and produced the following table.


 
In these statistics

• 84% of identified sexual assault victims were female.
• For males, sexual assault rates were highest for those aged 10-14 (95 per 100,000 relevant persons) and less than 10 (78 per 100,000 relevant persons).
• Boys made up 32% of sexual assault victims aged less than 10 years.

Queensland Police Statistics 2006/7

The Queensland Police statistics for 2006/7 produce a similar picture


 
In Queensland, the most vulnerable years are pre-pubertal at 7-12 years for both girls and boys. A 1997 Queensland study identified that the most dominant types of reported offences were touching or fondling the child’s genitalia, followed by exposure to sex organs and attempting to get the child to touch them.  The current Queensland Department of Child Safety identifies that between 1 in 6 and 1 in 10 males will have been sexually abused whilst under the age of 18 years.

Under reporting of child sexual abuse or sexual assault

One of the difficulties faced in developing a reliable picture of the extent of the problem of child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault is that both males and females are reluctant to identify as having been sexually victimised to anyone. Evidence suggests that:

• Between 70-90% of men who have experienced child sexual abuse haven’t told anyone!
• In on study of 40 boys who experienced child sexual abuse and attended an adolescent medical facility, none had ever told their primary care giver.  
• Men are one and a half times less likely than women to report rape to police. This makes for an extremely small figure, given that only between 5–10% of women report rape to police.

Personal Safety Survey 2005 

The Personal Safety Survey was the first national survey to attempt to collect statistics on a national level regarding the sexual victimisation of males. Prior to this, the Australian Bureau of Statistics only collected data regarding sexual assaults via the Women’s Safety Survey. The Personal Safety Survey identified that:

• 4.5% of men and 12% of women reported being sexually abused before the age of 15.
• 5.5% of men reported experiencing sexual violence after the age of 15, compared to 19% of women.
• 0.6% of males and 1.6% of females reported sexual assault or sexual threat in past 12 months.
• Both men (44%) and women (39%) reported sexual assault by a family member or friend in the most recent incident.
• Men (33%) were more likely than women (22%) to experience sexual assault by a stranger in the most recent incident (Women were more at risk from a male partner).

Adult Male Rape

Whereas there has been a considerable focus on childhood sexual abuse, attention to the rape and sexual assault of adult males has often been limited to prison rape:

• Between 5% and 10% of all reported rapes in any given year involve male victims.
• Unexpectedly, the Personal Safety Survey suggested that more men are sexually assaulted after the age of 15 than before! 
• Men who report being raped are more likely than women to have a weapon used against them and to receive injuries.  Note that it may be that men are more willing to report a sexual assault to the police if a weapon was used and they received injuries, as their masculine identity is less likely to be called into question.
• 1 in 4 New South Wales prisoners aged 18-25 years reported being sexually assaulted in prison – this is consistent with other studies in Australia, United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
• 22% of men in United States Prisons are raped at least once during their incarceration; this is equivalent to roughly 420,000 prisoners each year.
• Queensland corrective service does not provide statistics of the number of sexual offences that occur in prison in its annual report.
• In 2008 the Queensland Health Sexual Assault Data Collection Framework only collects statistics relating to women.

Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003

The Victorian Government has recently released the summary report Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003: Summary Research Report; this is the first extensive analysis of police investigations into 850 rape offences in Victoria in more than a decade. No such investigation has been undertaken in Queensland:

• Male victims were more likely than female victims to see charges laid (27.1% compared with 14% for females).
• No male victims were charged with false reporting or were involved in cases where police doubted their credibility.
• Male victims were also less likely to withdraw their complaints (8.5% compared to 15.7% of female victims).
• Of 850 offences of rape reported to police, 64 involved male victims (7.5% of the overall sample).
• Nearly half were aged under 20 years, and a quarter under 10 years.
• A third of male victims were identified as having a disability.
• Male victims were less likely to be offended against by a current or former partner or acquaintances. They were more likely to report offences committed by family members or other known people.
• In 63 of the 64 reported offences the principal offender was male.

Additional References

[1]  Fergusson, P. & Mullen, E. Childhood Sexual Abuse: An Evidence Based Perspective, Sage Publications, 1999.
[2]  Holmes, W. C.  “Sexual abuse of boys: Definition, prevalence, correlates, sequelae and management.  Journal of the American Medical Association 1998 December 2 Vol. 280, No 21.
[3]  Holmes 1998.
[4]  Crome, S. Male survivors of sexual assault and rape, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Wrap No 2, 2006, Holmes 1998)
[5]  Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Wrap No.1 Nov. 2005: 3.
[6]  Crome 2006:5.
[7]  ACSSA Wrap 2005.
[8]  Nelson, A & Oliver P. Gender and the Construction of Consent in Child-Adult Sexual Contact: Beyond Gender Neutrality and Male Monopoly. Gender and Society, Vol. 12, No. 5 (Oct., 1998), pp. 554-577.)
[9]  Holmes 1998.
[10]  Dube, S. R., R. F Anda, C. L Whitfield, D.W. Brown, V. J Felitti, M. Dong, W.D. Giles “Long term consequences of childhood sexual abuse by gender of victim.”  American Journal of Preventative Medicine 2005; 28(5).
[11]  (Goldman, J. G  & Padayachi U.K , ‘The prevalence and nature of child sexual abuse in Queensland, Australia.’  Child Abuse and Neglect, 21 (5), 1997. .
[12]  Holmes 1998. Pino, N. W., & Meier, R. F.’Gender differences in rape reporting.’ Sex Roles, 40(11/12), 1999:979-990
[13]  Scarce, Michael.  Male on Male Rape: The Hidden Toll of Stigma and Shame.  Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing, 1997; Heilpern, David M.  Fear or Favour: Sexual Assault of Young Prisoners.  Lismore: Southern Cross University Press, 1998: Human Rights Watch.  No Escape: Male Rape in U.S.Prisons, 2001.   Available on line at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/report.html; Pino & Meier 1999.