Witt, A., Rassenhofer, M., Allroggen, M., Brähler,
E., Plener, P. L., & Fegert, J. M. (2018). The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Institutions: Results From a
Representative Population-Based Sample in Germany. Sexual Abuse. iFirst
The lifetime
prevalence of sexual abuse in institutional settings in Germany was examined in
a sample representative of the general adult population (N = 2,437).
Participants completed a survey on whether they had ever experienced such
abuse, its nature (contact, noncontact, forced sexual, intercourse), the type
of institution (e.g. school, club), and the relationship of perpetrator to
victim (peer, caregiver, staff member). Overall, 3.1% of adult respondents
(women: 4.8%, men: 0.8%) reported having experienced some type of sexual abuse
in institutions. Adult women reported higher rates of all types than did men,
with rates of 3.9% versus 0.8% for contact sexual abuse, 1.2% versus 0.3% for
noncontact sexual abuse, and 1.7% versus 0.2% for forced sexual intercourse. We
conclude that a remarkable proportion of the general population experiences
sexual abuse in institutions, underscoring the need for development of
protective strategies. Especially, schools seem to represent good starting
points for primary prevention strategies.
Could you
talk us through where the idea for the research came from?
The idea for this article has a long history. Since the “so called”
abuse scandals in 2010, the topic of child sexual abuse has gained a lot more
public and political attention in Germany.
Until this point there had only been a few studies on the prevalence of sexual
abuse and other types of maltreatment in Germany. So there was clearly a need
for data. Interestingly, those who came forward in the “so called” abuse
scandals in Germany were men who had experienced sexual abuse in institutions.
Additionally, one of our colleagues, Dr. Allroggen had conducted a survey with
adolescents that were living in institutions and found tremendously high rates
for experiences of sexual abuse. We were therefore interested in the prevalence
in the general population of sexual abuse institutions but also leisure activities.
Luckily, our department had the chance to participate in a large survey, so we
took the chance and included questions about sexual abuse in institutions and
leisure activities in the survey.
What
kinds of challenges did you face throughout the process?
A big challenge in research on sexual abuse is whether it is ok to ask
people for such experiences. Institutional review boards are sometimes hesitant
to approve such research due to concerns that asking participants about sexual
abuse will induce extreme distress. Fortunately, research on reactions of
participants exists that helps to adequately address these concerns. For example
Jaffe et al. (2015) report in their meta-analysis that trauma-related research
can lead to some immediate psychological distress, however this distress is not
extreme. In general, individuals find research participation to be a positive
experience and do not regret participation, regardless of trauma history or
PTSD. To present those findings helped that the IRB approved our research.
The other issue that we were facing was how to ask individuals about
their experiences of sexual abuse. There is no questionnaire that especially
assesses sexual abuse in institutions. Therefore, we had to be careful in
selecting the questions, as we needed the questions to be non-judgmental. Additionally,
when we were designing the questions we were interested in a range of related
topics and would have liked to include a lot more questions but resources are
limited and so we had to narrow our questions to the essential ones.
What do you believe to be the main things that you have learnt about the prevalence of Sexual Abuse in institutions?
One of the most compelling findings is the amount of people that are
affected by sexual abuse within institutions. We also find that experiences of
child sexual abuse, as with other types
of child maltreatment, is very common in the general population. When we investigate
specific populations, such as children living in institutions the rates are
even higher. Our findings also suggest that sexual abuse may occur in a wide
variety of settings and that adult caregivers or staff, as well as peers have
to be considered as potential perpetrators. Clearly, efforts have to be taken to
prevent sexual abuse in different settings and also in regards to perpetrators.
Now that
you’ve published the article, what are some implications for practitioners?
Sexual abuse in institutions is an issue. The results of our study
indicate that a substantial number of people are affected. Therefore asking about
such experiences is necessary, to understand peoples behaviors and health, because
we know about the negative and lasting potential of such experiences.
Additionally, our results suggest that prevention programs should be
established. Especially schools seem to be a good setting for such programs.
Additionally, such programs should also address peers as potential
perpetrators.
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