Context: Information currently available on the trafficking of minors in the U.S. for commercial sexual exploitation includes approximations of the numbers involved, risk factors that increase the likelihood of victimization and methods of recruitment and control. However, specific characteristics about this vulnerable population remain largely…

Victims' responses to violent experiences within intimate relationships are highly diverse and can range from remaining silent, at least temporarily, to disclosing the abuse to informal and formal sources of support. Decisions to remain silent or to reach out for support are influenced by a complex range of factors, including situational…

Scientific studies of child maltreatment victims' memory abilities and court experiences have important legal, psychological, and clinical implications. However, state-of-the-art research on child witnesses is often hindered by methodological challenges. In this paper, we address specific problems investigators may encounter when attempting such…

Objectives: Published protocols for forensic interviewing for child sexual abuse do not include specific questions about what prompted children to tell about sexual abuse or what made them wait to tell. We, therefore, aimed to: (1) add direct inquiry about the process of a child's disclosure to a forensic interview protocol; (2) determine if…

Objectives: To identify the incidence of self-reported physical and sexual child abuse among homeless youth, the self-perceived effects of past abuse, and current interest in treatment for past abuse among homeless youth with histories of abuse. Methods: Homeless and street-involved persons aged 18-23 filled out a questionnaire and participated in…

Objective: A commonly cited, but unproven reason given for the rise in reported cases of child sexual abuse in Sub-Saharan Africa is the "HIV cleansing myth"--the belief that an HIV infected individual can be cured by having sex with a child virgin. The purpose of this study was to explore in Malawi the reasons given by convicted sex…

The association between a history of child sexual abuse (CSA) and specific negative outcomes (attachment, feelings of power, and self-esteem) was explored as was the relationship between those negative outcomes and sexual victimization during the first semester of college. Two groups of freshman college women (67 who had experienced CSA and 55 who…

Objective: This study compared the impact of multiple exposures to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), including sexual victimization, physical victimization, and witnessed violence, on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid conditions (i.e., major depressive episode [MDE], and substance use [SUD]). Methods: Participants were a…

Objective: This article reviewed the different surveillance systems used to monitor the extent of reported child maltreatment in North America. Methods: Key measurement and definitional differences between the surveillance systems are detailed and their potential impact on the measurement of the rate of victimization. The infrastructure…

This article describes the state of knowledge about extended assessments/forensic evaluations in situations of possible sexual abuse. It provides a critical review of the modest body of relevant research, describes two models for extended assessments, and presents descriptive survey findings of 62 professionals conducting extended assessments,…

No study to date has reported intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences among homeless youth. This study sought to uncover lifetime prevalence estimates of physical, sexual, and emotional IPV among a nonprobability sample of 180 homeless male and female youth in Columbus, Ohio. To that aim, self-reported IPV and the association between IPV and…

Sexual violence occurs at alarming rates in children and adults. Survivors experience myriad negative health outcomes and legal problems, which place them in need of professional services. A meta-summary was conducted of 31 published qualitative studies on adults' responses to sexual violence, with a focus on survivors' use of professional…

Previous research suggests that similarity to a victim may influence attributions of responsibility in hypothetical child sexual abuse scenarios. One aspect of similarity receiving mixed support in the literature is respondent child sexual abuse history. Using a sample of 1,345 college women, the present study examined child sexual abuse history,…

Child maltreatment appears to be the single most preventable cause of mental illness and behavioral dysfunction in the United States. Few published studies examine the developmental and the psychobiological consequences of sexual abuse. There are multiple mechanisms through which sexual abuse can cause post-traumatic stress disorder, activate…

Objective: The persecution of children as witches has received widespread reportage in the international mass media. In recent years, hundreds of children have been killed, maimed and abandoned across Africa based on individual and village-level accusations of witchcraft. Despite the media focus, to date, very little systematic study has…