Shocking: 38% of girls are sexually abused before the age of 18.

I read this in the newspaper today, frankly I find these numbers truly shocking. Especially since it means that a number of my female friends must have experienced it.

Personally this number seems far too high; perhaps I'm ignorant but I can't imagine it. I tried to do some research but either it's not there or I didn't look long enough.

My main question is why do we hear so little about it? I understand this is somewhat of a taboo but it almost sounds like hundreds of women are being raped right now. (I realise men are victims as well but this is a minority and I would like to concentrate on the biggest problem right now.)

So I wonder what causes this? Is it truly porn and the easy accessibility of it on the internet these days? Is it connected with a general lowering morale?

And perhaps most importantly what can we do to stop it?

I'd want a source, since that does seem high.


As for why it's not heard about, there's a huge social stigma still attached to being the victim of such a thing, not to mention the fact that almost all sexual abuse is by a person the victim trusted and who has quite a bit of power over the victim, often a family member, and it's a bit clearer why the victim wouldn't speak up.

I think this has to do with how one defines the term sexual abuse. When I think of it, as you probably do based off your post, as a man (Or less commonly a woman) touching a woman in a sexual manner when she doesn't want to be touched in that way. However, our definition is not universal and I have to assume that when they use the term "sexual abuse" they include things like cat calls, use of slurs, etc, in their definition. When you use that definition it's alot easier to see how the number could be so large.

I was contemplating whether or not I should post, since topics like these really depress me.
But since I think I know what I'm talking about, I'm going to share my point of view I guess.

It was around 2 years when my parents found out. I didn't even tell them, but I felt very embarrassed and shameful. I guess that's why we hear so little about it, some people are afraid and ashamed. (at least I was) Also some men and women probably don't even know who attacked them or what happened. (Date rape)

Originally Posted by John

I'd want a source, since that does seem high.


As for why it's not heard about, there's a huge social stigma still attached to being the victim of such a thing, not to mention the fact that almost all sexual abuse is by a person the victim trusted and who has quite a bit of power over the victim, often a family member, and it's a bit clearer why the victim wouldn't speak up.

Here I did some digging, I tried to find the most reliable sources:

http://www2.gmu.edu/dpt/unilife/sexu...dStats2005.pdf
http://www.childwelfare.gov/can/prevalence/stats.cfm
http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/fa...d-sexual-abuse

Originally Posted by Icky

My main question is why do we hear so little about it?

To avoid causing moral panic.

I understand this is somewhat of a taboo but it almost sounds like hundreds of women are being raped right now. (I realise men are victims as well but this is a minority and I would like to concentrate on the biggest problem right now.)

If a man gets raped, it would be very unlikely that they would report it to the police. They would feel embarrassed. Usually from what I heard, there have been some men who have been raped in prisons. So whether they are the minority...I'm not sure. Even some women do not report to the police that they have been raped.

So I wouldn't rely too much on these statistics. Could be much higher.

And perhaps most importantly what can we do to stop it?

Harsher penalities? Might act as a deterrent. Capital/corporal punishment? Just a suggestion.

Originally Posted by wiki

Steady dating partner 21.6%
Casual friend 16.5%
Ex-boyfriend 12.2%
Acquaintance 10.8%
Close friend 10.1%
Casual date 10.1%
Husband 7.2%
Stranger 2%

I know wikipedia is not the best source of information, but this gives you a clear idea how people become rape victims. Probably educating girls to be careful who to hang around with.

I think "abuse" needs to be distinguished from "harrassed." I would define abuse as rape or molestation, while harrassment would be unwanted touching and teasing.

Embarrassing as it is, by that definition, I, as a guy, have been harrassed a couple of times (ass slapping and such). If that is what they call "abuse," 38% doesn't surprise me at all.

^ I was going to say the same thing. By these definitions, sexual abuse doesn't necessarily need to be violent. It could just as well be verbal teasing or innapropriate, but not malicious 'touching'.

Because I too have had my ass slapped before. By some slut I didn't even know...

Hmm if that's the case then it does seem like a more reasonable number. I mean yeah I got a slap on my ass but I wouldn't say I was sexually abused when asked.

All reported rapes or abuses-though higher than they should be (in the U.S. between 2001 and 2002 it was 150,000)-don't cover all cases because of shame or a relationship with the sexual abuser.

This still comes nowhere close to 38% or the often-heard 1 in 4 statistic.

What caused the 1 in 4 statistic may be present here: murky responses to survey questions were automatically diverted to 'rape,' even when only a quarter of responses described it as such.

If it is 150 000 per year (with no overlap between cases) then that's roughly 2% by age 18, isn't it?


Still atrociously high, but not as utterly staggering as 38%.

Bah! Boys? Boys actually like it when they're sexually used!

HA. I'm totally kidding....I swear. (:

But it's just that there's a larger percentage of girls being sexually abused a year than boys....soo.....:/

Originally Posted by KelseyRain

Bah! Boys? Boys actually like it when they're sexually used!

HA. I'm totally kidding....I swear. (:

But it's just that there's a larger percentage of girls being sexually abused a year than boys....soo.....:/

I see no statistics to support this, once again society's assumption that girls always have it worse off. The only reason rape statistics for men are so low is because of the fact that men are hardly likely to go ahead and complain when it would make them look like pussies to all who know them.

Are you freaking serious? Are you saying everyone who has been raped is complaining?! They JUST got they're rights, purity, well-being, taken away and your calling that complaining? Just to let you know, girls don't have a ding dong, it HURTS to be forced into something like that. Looking like pussies or not, you have to let it be known so the cruel person who did do crime won't do it to anyone again.

Of course it's complaining, whenever you make an emotional statement to the effect of "bad ♥♥♥♥ happened to me", it's called complaining. If you're LYING about it you're "lying", if you're making it sound worse than it was it's called exaggeration. I don't see what you're trying to suggest I was saying, but what I meant by my use of the word "complain" there was "go and report it and make it known that it happened".

I have no doubt that rape is a traumatising thing, but don't start acting like it only happens to women, men have an anus, and just because their penis is hard doesn't mean they actually want sex (even though that's only sexual assault in Britain, seriously downgrading the harm it might do).

So yes. I am saying that people who have been raped would "complain". But not everyone does complain, and so they keep quiet and no one ever knows what happened to them. And this is more common in men due to the social stigma of what would happen if they did. So statistics are low for men, because not enough of them complain, because of the way they'd be perceived if they did. And people need to understand that, instead of constantly taking the side of women and saying everything bad ever happens only to them just so women can have a free pass to complain about how hard life is for them, because it's not just them.

I know men can be raped too, but this thread is about women. If you want to start one about men, you're free to do so. I see what you mean in complaining. I guess we just have different interpretations of the word. (:

OH! I found this on the web:

US rape statistics
Though people[who?] tend to assume otherwise, rape by a stranger is by far the least common form of rape.[2]

Rape of women by men, by perpetrator[2]

Perpetrator Frequency
Steady dating partner 21.6%
Casual friend 16.5%
Ex-boyfriend 12.2%
Acquaintance 10.8%
Close friend 10.1%
Casual date 10.1%
Husband 7.2%
Stranger 2%

The thread title says girls, which is precisely why I saw fit to come in here and complain that boys, once again, have not been taken into consideration, which is part of the problem. And in a sense, you've just contributed to that problem by saying "take the issues over boys somewhere else, where I don't have to read about them", when this thread in no way needs to be gender-specific other than what's stated in the title.

Similar can be said about how people always assume it's strangers that will abduct their children, when again, it's usually someone who knows the victim.

Yeah, I agree with you there. I think its the movies and media that make it seem like strangers are the one doing all the bad stuff....when it's usually a friend or someone you know. Unless it's like in Changeling, there's a man-who's-a-stranger-kidnapping-boys. (:

Originally Posted by Lord Zero

I see no statistics to support this, once again society's assumption that girls always have it worse off. The only reason rape statistics for men are so low is because of the fact that men are hardly likely to go ahead and complain when it would make them look like pussies to all who know them.

Women do have it worse off. This is not an assumption. There is no such thing as equalizing this fact.

One girl cannot stop one man from raping her, she is not physically able to do so. One man could stop up to four or five women physically trying to rape him, if he was between the ages of 18-34.

Originally Posted by Radek

Women do have it worse off. This is not an assumption. There is no such thing as equalizing this fact.

One girl cannot stop one man from raping her, she is not physically able to do so. One man could stop up to four or five women physically trying to rape him, if he was between the ages of 18-34.

You sir, to put it bluntly, are an idiot if you honestly think that all men are body-builders and that all women are weak and frail. You're just as sexist as you're trying to make me out to be. I have no doubt that women are liable to be victims of sex attacks more often than men, but I do doubt that there is as much of a difference as many women like to claim there is to make it appear harder on themselves and easier on men. Because clearly the world can only be cruel to one sex at a time.