The abuse generally begins with acts such as fondling. The child is coerced and manipulated into remaining silent. Victims are terrified of revealing the abuse, due to confusion, guilt, and fear of being blamed, punished, or not believed. The vast majority of child perpetrators are teenage or adult males. Most are heterosexual men, many with children and a wife or girlfriend.
Perpetrators come from all socio-economic levels, religions, and ethnic backgrounds.
The offender, not the victim, is responsible. Violent child victimizers were substantially more likely than those with adult victims to have been physically or sexually abused as a child. For more information about sexual assault or to receive support around a sexual assault experience, contact your local sexual assault program. This sheet may be reproduced.