ABSTRACT

If the reason why offenders abuse is a matter for controversy, so is the frequency of abuse. Estimates of prevalence can vary wildly: some estimates put the proportion of children who suffer sexual abuse as high as 54 per cent,1 others as low as 3 per cent.2 The percentage of adult women who have been sexually attacked has been variously put at 37 per cent3 and at only 10 per cent.4 Even the question of whether more or fewer sexual offences are now being committed is a matter for debate.