Welcome to the Sexual Abuse section of SoulStreet, I’m sorry that you have to be here. Sexual Abuse is a shocking thing that happens to so many people, and leaves them dealing with many issues for the rest of their lives. Sexual abuse is about power and control. Whether you’re here for yourself, or a family member or friend of someone who has been abused, I hope you can find some helpful information on the following pages.
One thing I want to make clear though straight away, people who’ve been raped or suffered childhood sexual abuse are not victims – they ARE survivors. Please never treat them as victims, it will only make them feel invalidated!
The statistics in my opinion are shocking, sadly though, often sexual abuse isn’t reported. Hopefully that will change in time to come.
Who are the victims?
96.2% are female (Esteal,1993)
61.8% assaulted before 20 years (Esteal,1993)
10% of women raped in their life (Haines,1985)
Who are the rapists?
97% are male (Finkelhor,1984;Shapcott,1988)
80% are known to the victim (Russell,1984;Esteal,1993)
Where does rape occur?
54%-62% of all rapes occur within the home (Auckland RCC, 1981;Moran,1993)
Whether a crime is reported or not, the healing process is needed – we have the right to feel whole and to feel safe again. I hope you can find some helpful info and resources here to start that journey!
WARNING: A lot of these pages contain distressing material, please make sure you feel safe before reading them.
Disclaimer: I am not a healthcare professional, I am an abuse survivor. The resources on this site are for information and education only and cannot replace the advice of a licensed health or mental health care professional.
