Why do we call it “abuse” when it’s rape? The truth is painful, and that’s why we avoid naming it. We must face it if we want to protect girls.
As parents and educators, we share wonderful moments with the children in our care. But as adults, we are also surrounded by nieces, cousins, daughters of close friends. Radford et al. (2015), in the UNICEF report Promising programmes to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation, include prevention programmes such as the international “Parenting for Lifelong Health” or “Stop It Now!” in the UK.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, girls typically report rates of sexual abuse at least three times higher than rates reported by boys. UNICEF estimates that about 1 in 10 girls under the age of 20 have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forced sexual acts (120 million girls globally). Added to this is the fear victims feel when it comes to reporting such abuse, so 7 out of 10 of adolescent girls experiencing sexual abuse never seek help, and nearly half never tell anyone (UNICEF-IRC, 2023). They are afraid that no one will help them. This fear is what the perpetrator uses to convince the child that no one will believe them or that they will get in trouble if they speak up.
What would we do if someone told us that a perpetrator is going to rape between one and three girls in the coming months?
Perpetrators of sexual abuse can be family members (fathers, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.). They can also be neighbours, religious leaders, teachers, health workers or anyone else with close contact to children. Because of this, children can be sexually abused more than once and over long periods of time. (UNICEF-IRC, 2023: 29).
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) defines ‘primary prevention’ as stopping child sexual abuse and exploitation before it occurs. And it’s important to stress that we are not talking only about non-consensual touching, but about sexual assaults that include the penetration of an adult into the vagina of a girl who has not even started menstruating.
There is no doubt that we all know what should be done in such a situation: report it to the relevant authorities, of course. A report filed by a third party who is not a direct victim is unlikely to move forward. Even in the case of knowing a victim who was raped as a child, if she does not want to report it – not even to prevent other girls from being raped – she cannot be forced to do so. What would we do?
Knowing what should be done is one thing, and doing it is quite another. In this case, it is especially difficult because such a report can come at a high personal cost for the one who files it. That is why there are mandatory reporting laws for certain professionals in education, health, and social services. Some laws require reporting even when the victim or their family opposes it, and failing to report can be considered a crime by omission.
We are terrified to think about the high probability that one of the children around us may be suffering. Keeping our eyes wide open is important but so is reporting – even if it brings retaliation from the abuser or their accomplices.
These girls deserve truth. And action.
References
- Radford, L., Allnock, D., & Hynes, P. (2015). Promising programmes to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation: A review of the evidence. UNICEF Office of Research.
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), & International Rescue Committee (IRC). (2023). Caring for child survivors of sexual abuse: Guidelines (2nd ed.). UNICEF.
- World Health Organization (WHO). (2002). World report on violence and health. Geneva: WHO.
Former Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; she is currently a Visiting Academic at the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.