Key facts and statistics about the disclosure of sexual abuse/assault

Disclosure of sexual abuse experienced in childhood

Many victims of child sexual abuse delay in disclosing the abuse or never disclose it, thus depriving themselves of the protection and services they need.
According to best estimates, 33% of sexually abused children disclose the abuse to at least one person before they reach 18 years of age. In addition, 11% of child sexual abuse situations are reported to the authorities.
According to a prevalence survey of a representative sample of Québec women in 2008, 26% of those who reported being a victim of sexual abuse during childhood said that they had never disclosed the abuse.
Disclosure rates for child sexual abuse are thus quite low and are often said to be just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, only a minority of cases of this type of abuse actually ever come to light.

Roughly 20% of females and 10% of males are sexually abused before they reach the age of 18.

Time taken to disclose child sexual abuse
According to the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, children disclose abuse without delay in fewer numbers than adults do. This is due at least in part to the fact that children are more often victimized by family members and may thus be afraid of the consequences disclosure will have for themselves or their family. Furthermore, children are not necessarily able to recognize sexual abuse and talk about it to others.

Among the sexual offences reported to police forces in Québec in 2009, those against children were reported on the day of the offence less often than were those against adults (26% compared to 46%).
Among the sexual offences reported to police forces in Québec in 2009, those against children were reported more than a year after they were committed, more frequently than were those against adults (27% compared to 11%).8 In addition, 10% of all offences that were reported more than one year later had been committed more than 10 years earlier.

According to a prevalence survey of a representative sample of Québec women in 2008, women who reported being victims of sexual abuse in childhood said that they had:
reported the abuse without delay (within one month) (in 22% of cases);
disclosed the abuse more than five years later (in 33% of cases).
Disclosure: it can be beneficial, but…

Among the female child sexual abuse victims who were surveyed and who reported that they had disclosed to at least one person the acts they had been subjected to:

66% said that disclosing the abuse had helped them considerably or to some extent;
10% said that disclosing the abuse had had a very negative or rather negative impact on them.
These results show the importance of disclosing sexual abuse experienced in childhood. However, they also show that some victims do not necessarily see disclosure in a positive light. The reactions of family and friends can have a favourable or unfavourable effect.

Obstacles to the disclosure of child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse victims give several reasons for not having disclosed the situation rapidly or for not having disclosed it at all.

Some of the reasons are related to feelings of confusion or ambivalence and to fears about the potential consequences of disclosure ― fears sometimes fostered by the perpetrator.

The reasons include:

Fear of being blamed for the sexual abuse
Fear of not being believed
Feeling ashamed or dirty
Not being sure that what occurred was actually abuse or that it was wrong
Fear of consequences for one’s family (separation, placement)
A desire to protect the perpetrator from consequences (e.g. imprisonment)
Benefits obtained (gifts, advantages, satisfactory relationship)
Fear that the perpetrator will act on his or her threats
Fear of stereotypes related to sexual roles or to homosexuality in the case of male victims
A desire to obey adults (value attached to obedience)

Certain characteristics of sexual abuse have been associated with whether or not the abuse is disclosed

Relationship to the perpetrator
Children who have been abused by a stranger or by someone from outside the family are more likely to disclose the abuse and do so without delay.

Age of victims
Most young victims (under 6 years of age) disclose abuse accidentally.
Accidental disclosure increases with age. Children between the ages of 7 and 13 are more likely to disclose to an adult or a parent, while adolescents disclose primarily to a friend or an intimate partner.
Gender of victims
Compared to girls, boys are less inclined to disclose sexual abuse and to do so without delay, particularly if the abuse occurred during adolescence.
Seriousness of the sexual abuse 

Intrafamilial and long-term sexual abuse seem to be disclosed to a more limited extent or disclosed later.
Sexual abuse with physical violence and injuries is more likely to be disclosed, or disclosed without delay, and be reported to the authorities.

Characteristics of victims’ families
Having access to parental support is associated with disclosure and with prompt disclosure of sexual abuse on the part of children.
Having a poor relationship with one’s parents is associated with failure to disclose on the part of adolescents.

Disclosure of sexual assault experienced in adulthood

Disclosure of sexual assault experienced in adulthood
Many of the sexual assault victims surveyed during the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization reported that they had told informal sources of support about the assaults they had experienced during the year prior to the survey.23 The main people they confided in were:
Friends (72%)
Family (41%)
Co-workers (33%)
Doctors or nurses (13%)

Obstacles to the disclosure of adult sexual assault
According to the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization, about 1 in 10 sexual assaults were reported to police within the year after they occurred, Victims gave various reasons to explain why they did not notify the police :
They felt the incident was not important enough (58%).
They had dealt with the incident in another way (54%).
They felt it was a personal matter (47%).
They did not want to get involved with the police (41%).
Certain characteristics of sexual assault seem to have an impact on whether or not it is reported to police. According to the 2004 General Social Survey on Victimization: 
Sexual touching was less likely to be reported to police (6%) than sexual attacks (22%).

Filing reports with the police
Several factors may explain, at least in part, why sexual assault is one of the crimes least reported to the police. First of all, the low reporting rate might be affected by the fact that sexual assaults rarely result in physical injuries or rarely involve a weapon, whereas these two factors are the most likely predictor of crimes being reported to the police.
Reasons cited by sexual assault victims for not reporting sexual assaults to the police include: thinking that the incident is minor or not important enough, that it is a personal or private matter, not wanting to deal with the police or the judicial process, fearing that the perpetrator will not be held responsible, fearing that they will not be believed, or thinking that they will be held responsible for their own victimization.
One in five victims of sexual assault report that another person (abuser, friends, family members) made them feel responsible for their own victimization.

Soource for Canada’s data: INSPQ Public health expertise and reference centre