PREVALENCE OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN

Objective: To ascertain the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a community sample of Australian women. Design: Retrospective stud y, done in 1994, of cross-sectional data on the prevalence of CSA, col lected as part of a larger two-stage case-control study of the possibl e relationship between CSA and alcohol abuse. Data were appropriately weighted to adjust for the different selection probabilities of cases and controls. Participants: 710 Women randomly selected from Australia n federal electoral rolls. Results: One hundred and forty-four women ( 20%) had experienced CSA. In 14 of these 144 women (10%), the abuse in volved either vaginal or anal intercourse (i.e., 2% of the sample popu lation experienced such abuse). The mean age at first episode of CSA w as 10 years, and most (71%) of the women were aged under 12 years at t he time. Perpetrators of the abuse were usually male (98%) and usually known to the child; 41% were relatives. The mean age of abusers was 3 4 years, with a median age difference of 24 years from that of the abu sed individual. Only 10% of CSA experiences were ever reported to the police, a doctor or a helping agency (e.g., community organisations, s uch as sexual assault services).Conclusion: The high rates of CSA (est imated to be 20% of all women) and low rates of reporting (10%) indica te the need for general practitioners and other health professionals t o be aware that a history of such abuse may be common in women in the general population.