ABSTRACT
Sexual abuse of children in and outside their family remains an area of taboo in the field of child rights, although since the mid-1980s many studies have revealed its widespread prevalence. Over the past two decades, epidemiological studies have yielded prevalence estimates of child sexual abuse ranging between 6 and 62 per cent for girls, and 3 and 37 per cent for boys (Finkelhor 1989; Dhaliwal et al. 1996). These statistics vary greatly depending on the definition given to sexual abuse (i.e. verbal, with/without physical contact, with/without penetration) and the way data is gathered. The World Health Organization (WHO 2002: 149) defined sexual violence as:
any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to at home and work.
