Legislation and Child Sexual Abuse

Paper Summary:

This paper questions whether the laws and legislation surrounding issues relating to child sexual abuse assist or hinder reporting and investigation of this phenomenon. An analysis of various laws and practices is included.

From the Paper:

"The occurrence of child sexual abuse has created a dilemma for modern society. In a culture which believes that it is free to choose its own moral footings, how does that culture maintain firm boundaries around those activities which are identified by the vast majority as harmful, and destructive to the culture. The belief that creating harm in the life of an individual who is unable to defend himself is a common definition of illegal, or immoral behavior. Under this definition, child sexual abuse is still identified by a majority as an unacceptable behavior. As such, we have taken steps to prevent and deter the abuse of children. The occurrence of sexual abuse is generally understood to be much more frequent than generally reported. "Finkelhor's study (1979) reported that 19 percent of the female population and 9 percent of the male population had been subjected to sexual abuse as children. The most recent estimates indicate that 10 percent of all women, and 2 percent of all men have experiences molestation." "

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