SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Increasingly, clinicians are being asked to help determine whether a c hild or adolescent has been a victim of sexual abuse. Since the late 1 970s numerous articles about sexual abuse have appeared in the literat ure; This review article will acquaint the clinician with the definiti on and incidence of sexual abuse and the characteristics of the abused and the abuser. Practical guidelines are included for interviewing th e victim, performing the physical examination, appropriate laboratory testing treatment, reporting to appropriate authorities, and court tes timony.