Child Abuse & Neglect, 2007, 31(9): 935-945

This article describes the prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) among women in New Zealand, providing ethnically specific rates, and outlines the frequency of abuse experienced and the most commonly identified perpetrators. It also explores associations between CSA and future adverse consequences such as partner abuse. The article retrospectively reports the findings of a survey of 2,855 randomly selected women aged 18 to 64 years old from the Auckland and Waikato regions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and the survey was designed to provide data comparable with the World Health Organization's Multi-Country Study of women's health and domestic violence against women. The study found that the overall prevalence rate for CSA is 23.5% for women from the urban region (Auckland) and 28.2% for those from the rural region (Waikato). Māori women reported higher rates of abuse than both European women and those of other ethnic groups (Urban 30.5% vs. 17.0% and rural 35.1% vs. 20.7%). These rates are higher than those of any of the ten countries studied in the WHO Multi-Country Study. The median onset age of CSA was nine years. In the majority of cases perpetrators were male family members with an estimated median age of 30 years. In 50% of cases abuse occurred on multiple occasions. The study found that victims of CSA are twice as likely as non victims to experience later intimate partner or other violence. The limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for preventative strategies are made. A two page summary of this research published by the Injury Prevention Information Centre is available (Record #3730) - follow the link.