A complex interplay between many different factors may contribute to explaining the occurrence of child sexual abuse. One precondition is the existence of a potential perpetrator who is sexually and emotionally motivated, who is lacking in social skills and cannot control his or her sexual impulses. Furthermore, there must be a child attractive to the perpetrator, under lax supervision, who is not capable of warding off a sexual approach. There are thus several barriers which the perpetrator has to overcome for abuse to take place - his or her own internal barriers and blocking mechanisms, external barriers in the situation surrounding the child and the child's own resistance. The most common scenario is for the perpetrator to be known to the child and a member of the child's immediate environment.
Girls run a between two and five times greater risk of being the victim of sexual abuse.
International studies show that the average age of victims is around eight to ten with boys being generally somewhat older than girls on first being abused. Family factors such as substance abuse and other forms of abuse in the family or a lack of care on the part of parents have a marked effect on increasing the risk of being sexual abused. Treatment of children and young people who are the victims of sexual abuse is carried out on the basis of many different theories and using various therapeutic methods. International research shows overall that the children who have been able to process their experiences through treatment generally do better than those who have not had the opportunity to do so. Although research into various aspects of sexual abuse has intensified in recent decades, a great deal remains to be done in this field.