Childhood Abuse and Adult Survivors: Notes from a Seminar
Let's begin with the statistics - and they are daunting: Approx. 1 in 4 girls & 1 in 8 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. Even the most conservative estimates put it at 1 in 6 girls & 1 in 10 boys. It is estimated that as many as 40 millio Americans - one in six people - experienced sexual abuse as a child. Child sexual abuse is seldom a one-time occurrence - it lasts an average of 1 - 4 years. It occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.