Disclosure and non-disclosure of childhood sexual abuse in Australia: Results from a national survey

Ben Mathews; David Finkelhor; Delphine Collin-Vézina; Eva Malacova; Hannah J Thomas; James G Scott; Daryl J Higgins; Franziska Meinck; Rosana Pacella; Holly E Erskine; Divna M Haslam; David Lawrence

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107183

Disclosure and non-disclosure of childhood sexual abuse in Australia: Results from a national survey

Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Dec 6:160:107183. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107183. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia; Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia; Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Crimes Against Children Research Center, Department of Sociology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
³ Centre for Research on Children and Families, McGill University, Canada.
⁴ QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
⁵ QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, Australia; Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
⁶ QIMR Berghofer, Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, Australia; Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Child and Youth Mental Health Service, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, South Brisbane, Australia.
⁷ Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁸ School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; OPTENTIA, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa.
⁹ Institute for Lifecourse Development, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, Australia; School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
¹¹ School of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia; Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia; Parenting and Family Support Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹² Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

PMID: 39644727
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107183

Abstract

Background: Little population-based evidence exists about prevalence of lifetime disclosure and non-disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA). Evidence is lacking about disclosure by girls and women compared with boys and men, and gender diverse individuals. It is unclear if disclosure is more common in contemporary society, and if disclosure is influenced by abuse severity and perpetrator type.

Objective: We aimed to identify prevalence of lifetime disclosure of CSA, and prevalence by gender, age group, abuse severity and perpetrator.

Participants and setting: The Australian Child Maltreatment Study collected information about CSA victimisation from a nationally representative sample of 8503 individuals aged 16 and over; 28.5 % (n = 2348) experienced CSA and provided information about disclosure.

Methods: We generated national estimates of lifetime CSA disclosure, compared results by gender and age group, and identified differences by severity and perpetrator.

Results: Prevalence of lifetime CSA disclosure was 54.8 %, and prevalence of non-disclosure was 45.2 %. Disclosure was more common for women (60.3 %) than men (42.2 %). Disclosure was more common among those aged 16-24 (70.5 %) than those aged 25-44 (61.9 %) and 45 and over (46.2 %). Prevalence was similar across four CSA sub-types (47.2 %-58.2 %). Disclosure varied across perpetrator classes.

Conclusions: Population-wide, almost one in two people who experience CSA had not disclosed. Men and those aged 45 and over were less likely to disclose. Increased disclosure by younger participants indicates progress in societal understanding of CSA. However, continued widespread non-disclosure indicates further efforts are needed to support those with lived experience of CSA to seek assistance.

Keywords: Child sexual abuse; Disclosure and non-disclosure; National survey; Social change; Trends by age group; Trends by gender.