Appendix B – Trends, risks and indicators

The prevalence of child sexual abuse

The Royal Commission found that there were significant gaps and limits in the available data measuring the extent, cause and effects of child sexual abuse in Australia. 

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 Personal Safety Survey estimated that:

• 1.4 million Australian adults experienced sexual abuse before they were 15 years old
• one in 10 women (10.7%) and one in 20 men (4.6%) experienced sexual abuse before they were 15 years old.

This is a conservative estimate because it does not include victims and survivors aged 15 to 17 at the time of the abuse. It also does not include sexual abuse by other children and young people. 

This estimate is affected by under-reporting and people not sharing their stories until well after the abuse has happened. It is also affected by extra barriers to reporting for some groups – such as people with disability. 

From July 2019 to June 2020, the Australian Federal Police received more than 21,000 reports of online child abuse materials. Each report could contain hundreds or thousands of images and videos. The Internet Watch Foundation says that every 4 minutes worldwide, a webpage shows a child or young person being sexually abused.

Impacts of child sexual abuse

The 3 main impacts of institutional child sexual abuse that victims and survivors reported during the Royal Commission’s private sessions were impacts on:

• mental health (95%)
• relationships (67%)
• education and finances (56%). 

There are also big financial and other costs of violence against children and young people. A 2019 report by Deloitte Access Economics calculated that: 

• in the 2016–17 financial year, the lifetime financial cost for new cases of violence against children and young people in Australia was $16.1 billion
• other costs from things like lower quality of life and early death were $62.3 billion. 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that women and men who experienced child sexual abuse were 3 times more likely to experience intimate partner violence as an adult than those who had not experienced child sexual abuse. 

Links to other forms of maltreatment

Sexual abuse rarely occurs in isolation. It often happens alongside other forms of child maltreatment. Child maltreatment includes: 

• physical, sexual and emotional abuse
• neglect
• exposure to domestic and family violence. 

There is currently no national data source that measures how often sexual abuse happens along with other forms of child maltreatment.

Perpetrator characteristics

People who commit contact child sexual abuse

Contact child sexual abuse is when a person physically sexually abuses a child or young person. The characteristics of perpetrators of contact child sexual abuse vary a lot. While we know that people who sexually abuse children and young people are mostly men, there is no reliable or consistent profile for perpetrators. There is often very little that makes people who sexually abuse children and young people stand out from the general population, other than their criminal behaviour. 

Perpetrators of child sexual abuse are usually people the child or young person know – such as a relative, friend or neighbour. They also have different reasons to offend, and their behaviours can change over time.

While researchers have developed different ways to understand perpetrator behaviour, perpetrators do not fit neatly into discrete categories. For example, they can show motivations or actions that fit with more than one type of offending. While recognising these limits, the Royal Commission identified 3 types of perpetrators:

• Fixed, persistent perpetrators tend to have a long-term sexual attraction to children or young people. They are often repeat offenders, abusing multiple children and young people throughout their lives. They are more likely than other perpetrators to have a paedophilic interest in children and young people, and are less likely to have age-appropriate sexual relationships. Most perpetrators do not fall in this category, even though it matches common stereotypes.
• Opportunistic perpetrators tend to be less fixated on the sexual abuse of children and young people. They may also be involved in criminal behaviour other than child sexual abuse. They may not be more sexually attracted to children or young people than adults. However, they do use children or young people for sexual gratification. These perpetrators are less likely than other adult perpetrators to deliberately create situations where they can abuse children and young people. They abuse children or young people when they see an opportunity. They are less likely to use grooming strategies.
• Situational perpetrators do not usually have a sexual preference for children or young people. 
  They tend to have similar patterns of sexual arousal to people who do not sexually abuse children and young people. They sexually abuse children or young people in response to things happening in their own lives. This can include things like social isolation, lack of positive adult relationships and low self-esteem.

A range of risk factors may play a role in someone’s decision to sexually abuse a child or young person, or the possibility that they will commit child sexual abuse. While most people with these factors in their lives will not sexually abuse a child or young person, some examples include:

• adverse experiences in childhood, such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect
• having interpersonal, relationship or intimacy difficulties, such as difficulties connecting with other adults
• distorted beliefs that may lead to child sexual abuse, such as the belief that abuse is not harmful
• indirect influences, such as the situation they are in or ‘trigger’ factors. For example, severe stress, substance abuse and mental health issues.

These factors are not an excuse or justification for child sexual abuse. However, they show some of the things that can contribute to someone perpetrating child sexual abuse. They also show us opportunities for early intervention. It is important to note that some perpetrators of child sexual abuse may not show any risk factors. 

People who access, share or produce online child sexual abuse materials

The characteristics of those who solely access online child sexual abuse materials, including livestreamed child sexual abuse, are different from the characteristics of those who commit contact child sexual abuse. Perpetrators who solely access online child sexual abuse material are less likely to have:

• histories of physical and sexual childhood abuse
• severe mental illness or substance use problems
• direct access to children or young people – unless they are producing materials.

They are more likely to:

• be a young adult, Caucasian, highly educated and employed
• have difficulties with intimate relationships, sexual intimacy, self-esteem and assertiveness
• have difficulties with sexual regulation preoccupation – for example, they might have higher rates of masturbation and pornography use and use sex as a coping mechanism
• have problematic patterns of general internet use.

Why perpetrators target children and young people

Child sexual abuse is always the fault of the perpetrator. Perpetrators of child sexual abuse will often look for vulnerability in a child or young person when choosing a victim. There are a range of social, cultural and environmental factors that affect whether a perpetrator will target a child or young person. These factors also affect how likely it is the abuse will be identified, reported and responded to appropriately. However, a child or young person can be sexually abused even in situations where there are no obvious risk factors.

Factors that can reduce the likelihood of a perpetrator targeting a child or young person include:

• supportive and trustworthy adults
• supportive peers
• education about sexual development and healthy relationships, including sexual abuse, personal safety and body autonomy
• strong community or cultural connections.

Factors that can impact the likelihood of a perpetrator targeting a child or young person include:

• the gender of the child or young person
• the age and developmental stage of the child or young person
• whether the child or young person has experienced child abuse, neglect or other adverse events
• whether the child or young person has a disability and the type of disability
• the child or young person’s family circumstances, for example family violence, family breakdown or homelessness
• the child or young person’s level of social isolation
• the child or young person’s level of understanding of sexual behaviour, including sexual abuse and personal safety
• the child or young person’s level of self-esteem.

Particular groups of children and young people are more vulnerable to sexual abuse because of their exposure to certain risk factors. This can make it less likely that they are able to tell someone about or report the abuse. It may also make it less likely that they will get an appropriate response. There are much higher numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children with disability in some high-risk institutional settings. This is due to a range of historical, social and financial reasons, including colonisation.

Indicators of child sexual abuse

A child or young person, or someone they know, may disclose child sexual abuse to you. They may tell you in a range of ways or in stages over time. Any direct or suspected disclosure of child sexual abuse should always be believed and must always be responded to. For more information about how to respond, refer to Reporting child sexual abuse.

Children and young people may show a range of physical, behavioural and emotional symptoms that could mean they are distressed or going through trauma, including sexual abuse. The age and developmental level of the child or young person will affect how any indicators show up. Some children and young people who have been sexually abused will not show any symptoms.

Physical symptoms that may present after child sexual abuse include:

• headaches
• stomach aches
• bed-wetting
• loss of appetite and weight loss
• nightmares and sleep disturbances.

While rare, conclusive indicators of sexual abuse in children and young people are:

• the presence of semen
• pregnancy
• sexually transmitted infections or diseases – if transmission during pregnancy and childbirth or through medical treatment can be ruled out
• anal and genital injury and symptoms – such as soreness or bleeding.

Children and young people who are sexually abused may find it difficult to deal with or regulate their distress after the trauma they have experienced. Emotional or behavioural changes could include:

• depression, anxiety and mood changes, including social withdrawal and disassociation
• self-harm or attempted suicides
• poor self-care or personal hygiene
• harmful and volatile substance use
• over-compliance and eagerness to please
• aggressiveness and anger
• running away
• desexualisation – for example, wearing baggy clothes to hide their gender
• anxiety-related illnesses – such as anorexia or bulimia
• fear and avoidance of certain people and places.

For very young children, or children and young people with disability, there are extra things to consider:

• behavioural issues, particularly those the child or young person has not shown in the past – including emotional outbursts, self-harm and heightened aggression
• regression in developmental achievements
• developmental delays – for example, delayed speech, crawling or walking
• self-stimulatory behaviours – for example, rocking and head banging.

If a child or young person is a victim of grooming, blackmail or sexual exploitation, they may show some or all of the following signs:

• developing an unusually close connection with an older person
• arriving at school with gifts or money given by new friends or having large amounts of money that they cannot account for
• being very secretive about their phone, internet and social media use
• going missing for long periods or appearing at school extremely tired
• being dishonest about where they have been and who they were with
• substance abuse
• assuming a new name, having false identification, a stolen passport or driver’s licence, or a new phone
• being collected from school by an older or new friend.

One key behavioural change that may indicate sexual abuse is a child or young person’s display of harmful sexual behaviours. This could include:

• inappropriate or unusual sexual knowledge or behaviours
• drawings or descriptions of stories that are sexually explicit and not age-appropriate
• sexual behaviours directed towards themselves or other children or young people who:
  • are unexpected for their age or their stage of development
  • may cause developmental harm
  • are abusive, such as aggressive, explicit or sexual behaviour that takes advantage of others
• sexual behaviour with adults
• excessive concern with genitalia or sex
• problematic use of pornography
• engagement in unprotected sex
• sex with multiple sexual partners.

You can find more information about the indicators of sexual abuse in children and young people in Volume 4 of the Royal Commission’s Final Report – ‘3.2 Indicators of sexual abuse in children’.

Children with harmful sexual behaviours

Some children and young people may take part in sexual behaviours that harm themselves or others. The Royal Commission used the term ‘harmful sexual behaviours’ to cover a wide range of behaviours, from things that are inappropriate for the child’s age and development to serious sexual assault. These behaviours can have devastating and lifelong effects on the child or young person, as well as any victims and survivors. However, we should not look at children and young people in the same way as adults, as far as their sexual, cognitive and emotional development, or their legal responsibilities go. The Royal Commission stated that harmful sexual behaviours in children and young people can be determined by looking at:

• the context of the behaviours
• how severe the behaviours are
• the impact of the behaviours on others
• how different the behaviours are from what we would expect from healthy development.

The table on expected sexual development in children, by age group shows examples of healthy sexual development.

Description of expected sexual development and behaviours in children, by age group

Children with harmful sexual behaviours are often victims or survivors themselves. They may have been affected by one or more adverse childhood experiences. These include:

• sexual, physical and emotional abuse
• neglect
• exposure to family violence
• exposure to and use of pornography.

Children with harmful sexual behaviours may have an intellectual impairment, learning difficulty, or neurodevelopmental disorder.