THE INTERNATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Surveys of child sexual abuse in large nonclinical populations of adul ts have been conducted in at least 19 countries in addition to the Uni ted States and Canada, including 10 national probability samples. All studies have found rates in line with comparable North American resear ch, ranging from 7% to 36% for women and 3% to 29% for men. Most studi es found females to be abused at 1 1/2 to 3 times the rate for males. Few comparisons among countries are possible because of methodological and definitional differences. However, they clearly confirm sexual ab use to be an international problem.