Internet Predators
Millions of Dr. Jekeylls and Mr. Hydes may have a key to your diary, and you've given it to them: Internet Memo
"The diary-like blog sites, or 'spaces,' on the Web make it easy for children and adults alike to post their electronic diaries. Potentially 750 million readers could read these daily journal entries. Federal authorities believe that at least 500,000 to 750,000 predators are online on a daily basis, constantly combing through these blog sites..." - By Clint Van Zandt MSNBC analyst & former FBI profiler
• 345% increase in child pornography sites between 2/2001-7/2001. - N2H2 press release, 8/01
•1 in 5 (children) received a sexual solicitation or approach in the last year.
•1 in 33 (children) received an aggressive sexual solicitation (asked to meet, called them via phone, sent mail, money or gifts).
•25% of youth who received a sexual solicitation told a parent. - Online Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000
Child Sexual Abuse ~ Disclosures
Among victims of sexual abuse, the inability to trust is pronounced, which also contributes to secrecy and non-disclosure.
Source: Courtois & Watts, 1982.
Children often fail to report because of the fear that disclosure will bring consequences even worse than being victimized again. The victim may fear consequences from the family, feel guilty for consequences to the perpetrator, and may fear subsequent retaliatory actions from the perpetrator.
Sources: Berlinger & Barbieri, 1984; Groth, 1979; Swanson & Biaggio, 1985.
Victims may be embarrassed or reluctant to answer questions about the sexual activity.
Source: Berlinger & Barbieri, 1984.
Victims may also have a feeling that "something is wrong with me," and that the abuse is their fault.
Sources: Johnson, 1987; Tsai & Wagner, l978.
In addition to "sexual guilt," there are several other types of guilt associated with the abuse, which include feeling different from peers, harboring vengeful and angry feelings toward both parents, feeling responsible for the abuse, feeling guilty about reporting the abuse, and bringing disloyalty and disruption to the family . Any of these feelings of guilt could outweigh the decision of the victim to report, the result of which is the secret may remain intact and undisclosed.
Source: Courtois & Watts, 1982; Tsai & Wagner, l978.
A child's initial denial of sexual abuse should not be the sole basis of reassurance that abuse did not occur. Virtually all investigative protocols are designed to respond to only those children who have disclosed. Policies and procedures that are geared only to those children who have disclosed fail to recognize the needs of the majority of victims.
Source: Sorensen & Snow, 1991.
Study of 630 cases of alleged sexual abuse of children from 1985 through 1989: Using a subset of 116 confirmed cases, findings indicated that 79 percent of the children of the study initially denied abuse or were tentative in disclosing. Of those who did disclose, approximately three-quarters disclosed accidentally. Additionally, of those who did disclose, 22 percent eventually recanted their statements.
Source: Sorensen & Snow, 1991.
Young victims may not recognize their victimization as sexual abuse.
Source: Gilbert, l988.
There is the clinical assumption that children who feel compelled to keep sexual abuse a secret suffer greater psychic distress than victims who disclose the secret and receive assistance and support.
Source: Finkelhor & Browne, 1986.
Early identification of sexual abuse victims appears to be crucial to the reduction of suffering of abused youth and to the establishment of support systems for assistance in pursuing appropriate psychological development and healthier adult functioning . As long as disclosure continues to be a problem for young victims, then fear, suffering, and psychological distress will, like the secret, remain with the victim.
Rape Statistics
• Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes.
- U.S. Department of Justice.
An estimated 302,100 women and 92,700 men are forcibly raped each year in the United States.
Only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police. In a
survey of victims who did not report rape or attempted
rape to the police, the following was found as to why no
report was made: 43% thought nothing could be done,
27% felt it was a private matter, 12% were afraid of police
response, and 12% felt it was not important enough.
The National Violence Against Women Survey found that rape is a crime committed primarily against youth. Of the women who reported being raped at some time in their lives,
21.6% were under 12 years old
32.4% were 12-17years old
29% were 18-24 years old
16.6% were over 25 years old
when they were first raped.
This translates to 54% of women victims who were under 18 at the time of the first rape and 83% of women victims who were under the age of 25.
Information on Sex Offenders
According to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice,
women accounted for 1 in 50 offenders committing a violent
sex offense including rape and sexual assault. Women
committed 2% of the total sexual assaults committed by
violent offenders.
In a recent study, 17.5% of a sample of sex offenders in a
recent study committed another sexual offense. Incest
offenders reoffended less often (8.4%) than rapists (17.1%)
and extra-familial child molesters (19.5%). The recidivism
rate for incest offenders was highest for perpetrators
between the ages of 18-24 and for extrafamilial child
molesters between the ages of 25-35.
82% of the suspected perpetrators of child sexual abuse in
a study sample were at the time of the offense or had been
at some time involved in a heterosexual relationship witha
close relative of the child they victimized. In their study
sample, researchers found that a child’s risk of being
molested by his or her relative’s heterosexual partner was
over 100 times greater than their being molested by someone
who identifies as being homosexual, lesbian or bisexual
(0.7% of the cases).
A study of 1,600 juvenile sexual assault offenders
nationwide indicated that only about 33% of the juveniles
perceived sex as a way to demonstrate love or caring for
another person. 23.5% perceived sex as a way to feel
power and control, 9.4% as a way to dissipate anger, and
8.4% as a way to punish.
The typical child sex offender molests an average of 117
children, most of whom do not report the offense.
Only 2% of rapists are convicted and imprisoned.
Based upon the reports of offenders in a survey of inmates
of state correctional facilities, 66% of all prisoners convicted
of rape or sexual assault committed their crime against
a child.
About 5 out of 10 rape defendants are released prior to
trial, and 8 out of 10 convicted rape defendants had
entered a guilty plea.
For rape defendants sentenced to prison, the average term
imposed was 164 months, or just under 14 years. The
average jail term for an offender convicted of rape was 8
months, and the average probation term was just under 6
years. An estimated 2% of convicted rapists received a
term of life imprisonment.
All of this information can be found here
http://www.calcasa.org/stat/CALCASA_Stat_2008.pdf
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