When the author was adviser to the Australian Minister for Education for writing the national Safe Schools Framework (2003), meetings were held with early-childhood care and education administrators from all state, Catholic and independent sectors. Their unexpected message was that educators were facing new problems, those of child sexual abuse in…

Objectives: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with both short- and long-term adverse mental and physical health consequences, yet there remains considerable controversy about the prevalence of CSA in the general population. There is also little prospective data on unwanted sexual contact (USC) collected during adolescence. Methods: Data…

Objective: To examine childhood sexual abuse in Australian childbearing adolescents and the contribution of abuse variables (sexual and physical abuse) to antenatal and postpartum depression and anxiety in adolescents. Methods: Seventy-nine adolescents proceeding with a pregnancy for the first time were surveyed about abuse experiences and were…

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence, trends, and characteristics of maltreatment and assault related hospital admissions and deaths among children; and identify common injuries and conditions associated with these admissions using routinely collected morbidity and mortality data. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of all children aged…

This exploration of the dynamics and developmental consequences of child abuse begins with a definition of child abuse and a discussion of child sexual abuse. After a description of the incidence of child abuse, the consequences of abuse--including health and emotional problems, and neuro-developmental disabilities--are discussed. Further…

A survey of undergraduates (N=427) in Queensland (Australia) found child sexual abuse prevalence rates of 19% for males and 45% for females, with incestuous abuse reported by 9% of males and 19% of females. Other findings addressed age at onset of abuse, gender, types of unwanted sexual experiences, and media exposure. (DB)

Evaluation of effects of mandating educators to report suspected cases of child sexual assault in New South Wales, Australia, found a significant increase in the number of such reports by teachers but no change in the percentage of reported eventually verified. (Author/DB)

This paper describes the Aboriginal culture and lifestyle from precolonization to the present, notes the problem of child abuse which developed after colonization, cites instances in which the judicial system has been sympathetic toward perpetrators and not victims of sexual abuse, and examines possible solutions to the problem. (JDD)

This commentary discusses the decline in sexual abuse, citing research that indicates differences in self-reported sexual abuse across age-cohorts in a population-based sample of Australian adults. Similar declines in Ireland and the United States are also noted. The usefulness of self-report surveys for examining trends in child victimization is…

A study examined age-cohort differences of self-reported child sexual abuse (CSA) experiences of 1,784 Australian adults. CSA was reported significantly less by younger males than older males. Among females who had intercourse before 16, older women were more likely to say they were an unwilling partner on the first occasion. (Contains…

Objective: To present key findings from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) in sufficient detail to provide a basis for international comparisons in terms of forms and severity of maltreatment and the age and sex of victims. Method: A survey conducted in a random sample of 51 child welfare service areas across Canada…

This study determined prevalence and outcome data on parents with disabilities and their children in statutory child-protection proceedings in New South Wales (Australia). Parents with disabilities (usually psychiatric or intellectual) featured in almost one-third of the cases. Court outcomes indicated a disproportionately large number of children…