A Review of Child Sexual Abuse: Impact, Risk, and Resilience in the Context of Culture

Abstract

Child sexual abuse is a problem with both a national and worldwide prevalence. In this review, the authors note that while empirical research has clearly shown the negative impact of child sexual abuse on social, psychological, and sexual functioning later in life, it has also been reported that some individuals remain asymptomatic despite a history of experiencing child sexual abuse. This implies that negative outcomes later in life are not inevitable and illustrates the critical need to elucidate how resilience may moderate the negative impacts of child sexual abuse. In addition to emphasising the role of resilience, this review also underscores the important role that cultural context plays in understanding child sexual abuse, as there are known risk factors and protective factors specific to different cultures. Similarly, one's culture may also influence whether abuse is reported and addressed, and the topic is given special attention in this paper because it is not widely discussed within the existing literature. The impact of child sexual abuse on mental health, sexual health, and social functioning is also discussed.

Experiences of Non-consensual Sex of Older Adult Men and Women in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Portugal

“…Lastly, with minor cross-cultural differences, the experience of non-consensual sex was related to greater levels of both anxiety and depression, less subjective well-being, less perceived intimacy with one's partner, and more loneliness. This corresponds with previous research (Hillberg et al, 2011;Maniglio, 2009;Sanjeevi et al, 2018). Lower perceived intimacy with one's partner was, for women, the variable most consistently associated with having had experienced non-consensual sex before or after the age of 18 years.…”

“…There is ample evidence that sexual abuse, whether experienced in childhood or in adulthood, is associated with an increased risk of various psychological, physical, interpersonal, and sexual problems (Hillberg, Hamilton-Giachritsis, & Dixon, 2011;Irish, Kobayashi, & Delahanty, 2010;Maniglio, 2009;Sanjeevi, Houlihan, Bergstrom, Langley, & Judkins, 2018). For example, in a systematic review of various longitudinal studies, and a meta-analysis across age groups, languages, and populations, Chen et al (2010) found a statistically significant association between sexual abuse and lifetime diagnoses of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicide attempts.…”

“…Gender is found to be a risk factor for experiencing non-consensual sex, and women are more exposed to abuse more than men are (Sanjeevi et al, 2018). However, it is important to study whether the same or different factors predict non-consensual sexual experiences across genders, and whether there exist cross-cultural differences in such relationships.…”

Sociodemographic factors and early marriage among women in Bangladesh, Ghana and Iraq: An illustration from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

“…The negative consequences of child marriage are awful. Negative health consequences of child marriage include poor maternal and reproductive health, increased risk of STIs, higher risk of intimate partner violence and more (Sarwade et al, 2019;Sanjeevi et al, 2018). This type of belief or misconception is only growing because of the lack of proper education.…”

Violencia sexual en niños y adolescentes varones en el mundo: una revisión integrativa

“…La prevalencia glo bal estimada de la VSI está entre el 7,6 % y el 8,0 % en ho m bres y el 15,0 % y el 19,7 % en m ujeres (2)(3)(4)(5); la VSI con intento de penetración o penetración alcanza el 3,0 % en ho m bres y el 9,0 % en m ujeres (2). Según Stoltenborgh, van IJzendoor, Euser y Baker mans-Kranenburg (5), a nivel regional, la VSI m uestra un patrón de mayor prevalencia entre m ujeres, con excepción de Suramérica.…”