Childhood sexual abuse : History of adversity in sex offenders
To fight sexual violence perpetrated against children, we need to understand its origin. Studies have been carried out on sex offenders to better understand their profile.
Sexual abuse of children has long been ignored or accepted by society. In ancient times, sexual abuse of slaves - male or female - and the use of child slaves as courtiers were common. During this period, war also led to the enslavement and rape of prepubescent girls, sometimes under the age of ten. In addition, pederasty - homosexual practice between an adult man and a teenage boy - was common in ancient Greece. It was practiced between a man and a teenage boy as part of a master-pupil relationship. Even back then, the practice of pederasty with free young boys/citizens raised questions. In Rome, for example, pederasty with boys holding citizenship was prohibited in principle. Christianity later condemned pederasty, but more to fight against homosexuality than to protect children. The question of marriage and concubinage at the time also implied sexual violence. It is estimated that girls married between the ages of 15 and 19, and boys between 20 and 30. In Rome, the legal age of marriage for girls was 12, which could mean forced sexual intercourse with an adult man.
In the Middle Age and the early modern period, sexual violence against children was rarely brought to justice, and the specific nature of such violence was not emphasized. Child sexual abuse wasn’t treated as such but as rape, abuse, sodomy or fornication. Penetration was only qualified as rape if ejaculation had taken place, which was particularly difficult to prove. Legal proceedings and outcomes also depended on the social status of the victim, his/her parents and the accused. Incestuous sexual violence was criminally prosecuted, but more with the aim of combating incest than child sexual abuse. In the early modern period, the specific nature of sexual abuse of children began to be taken into account. England's Westminster Rape Statute of 1576 stipulated that vaginal penetration of a girl under the age of ten constituted rape, even when the child was apparently consenting. Sexual violence against children was also widespread during this period. For example, more than half of the 306 rape cases prosecuted in London between 1674 and 1800 involved girls under the age of fourteen. Many of them - 29% of the total - were even under ten. Moreover, this example shows that very few rapes were reported and prosecuted. To compare, in France, there were 1,417 rape complaints in 1972 and 9,993 in 2005.
In late modern and contemporary times, the emergence of the child protection movement, the progressive recognition of children's rights, the influence of medicine and sexology, and the establishment of the category of paedophilia have all contributed to the recognition of child sexual abuse. The child protection movement also influenced legislation and social policy. Charitable organizations such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, founded in 1884, fought to protect children from sexual exploitation, and denounced child prostitution. Between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the media took up the subject. Child prostitution trials and scandals attracted attention, and newspapers took an interest in sexual crimes and violence that had previously attracted little interest. Despite these advances, child sexual abuse was often ignored or passed over in silence when it concerned the more affluent social classes. Sexual abuse was then seen as a phenomenon specific to the lower classes, whether as perpetrator or victim. Today, we know that such violence can affect all social classes, as demonstrated by the case of the French politicolog Olivier Duhamel, who was accused of sexual abuse on his stepson in the 1980s. The end of these taboos and the revelations of paedocriminality also affect religions. The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) estimates that between 1950 and 2020, 216,000 minors were victims of sexual offences committed by Catholic clerics or nuns in France. Other religions are also concerned, with the conviction in 2020 of Robert Spatz, a Belgian Tibetan Buddhist lama, for sexual abuse on minors. Despite society's growing awareness of the problem, paedocriminality remains a serious problem, and many children are still being sexually abused, as demonstrated by the case of streaming child rape for Western Internet users in return for payment.
Defining child sexual abuse
Throughout history, society has progressively recognized children's rights, notably with the ratification of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (ICRC) in 1989 by almost every country in the world. At the same time, child sexual abuse has also been denounced. In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined child sexual abuse in its Guide to Preventing Child Abuse : "Sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared, or else that violates the laws or social taboos of society. Children can be sexually abused by both adults and other children who are – by virtue of their age or stage of development – in a position of responsibility, trust or power over the victim.". The same organization has also conducted studies according to which around 20% of women and 5-10% of men worldwide claim to have experienced sexual abuse during childhood. In 2014, UNICEF also estimates that "120 million girls under the age of 20 (around 1 in 10) have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forced sexual acts" worldwide. Girls are more exposed to sexual violence than boys, while boys are more exposed to severe physical punishment.
Another issue linked to child sexual abuse is that of forced marriage. Despite international standards protecting children's rights, this practice remains widespread. In some countries, a parental agreement allows the child to marry, while in others, the law is circumvented by not formalizing the union. According to a 2021 UNICEF report, "650 million girls and women alive today were married before the age of 18. This represents 1 in 5 young women worldwide. [...] For boys, 1 in 25 is married before the age of 18. Unions before the age of 15 are virtually non-existent. [...] In sub-Saharan Africa, 34% of women are married before the age of 18. This proportion exceeds 50% in several countries in this part of the world". Forced marriage therefore remains a major problem, as it institutionalizes and enables sexual violence against children. Indeed, in most cultures, a marriage must be consummated before it can take effect, which implies non-consensual sex for the child who is married to an adult.
There are several forms of sexual abuse, and the non-profit organization Action Enfance lists them as follows : sexual assault (touching, rape, etc.), incest (sexual act on a family member), sexual exhibition, sexual harassment and exploitation/access to child pornography. A number of signs may indicate that a child has been sexually abused : difficulty walking or sitting up, pain, itching or sores in the genital area, speech with sexual connotations , inhibition, mutism, difficult relationships with other children, self-blame, boredom or attention problems.
Sexual abuse can have serious consequences on a child's life. Sexual abuse can cause traumatic symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder in children, which can last well into adulthood. Psychologically, the child may feel guilty and be scared, and suffer from a lack of confidence and self-esteem. In the long term, it can also have a lifelong impact : sleep disorders, anxiety, risk of depression, domestic and sexual difficulties, delayed language and development, addiction, eating disorders, self-mutilation, isolation and/or withdrawal, risky behavior, development of chronic pathologies and sexual behavior disorders.
Risk factors for sexual violence include lack of education, poverty and high emotional needs. The fact that the aggressor is from outside the family also increases the risk. Among victims, those most at risk are girls, adolescents, blacks, children living in dangerous communities and less educated environments, boys with externalizing problems and children who have already been sexually abused. As far as the victims' families are concerned, risk factors include poverty, lower parental professional status, single-parent families, step-families, weak parent-child relationships and parental dissatisfaction with their role or their child.
History of adversity among sexual offenders
In order to understand what causes sexual abuse, studies have been carried out on offenders to gain a better understanding of their psychology and whether they themselves were abused as children. Etiological and classification studies identified two groups of sex offenders : the "regressed", who are incestuous-type child sex offenders and the "fixed", who are sex offenders with a significant history of previous sexual offending, dating back to adolescence. The "fixed" often had a history of sexual victimization in childhood. A study looking specifically at the history of adversity was carried out among sex offenders (intrafamilial, extrafamilial and adult victims), non-sexual offenders and non-offenders. The study showed that sexual and non-sexual offenders were more likely to have been physically abused and to have faced an unsympathetic paternal figure. It also shows that paedophiles were more often sexually abused themselves. Also, this level of sexual abuse was higher among extra-familial child sex offenders than among the other two categories of sex offenders. Therefore, it would seem that child sex perpetrators were more often abused, particularly sexually, than the rest of the population.
Another study also showed that sex offenders who had been sexually abused had higher scores of moral disengagement and cognitive distortion towards children than sex offenders who had not been sexually abused. Moral disengagement involves convincing oneself to do something one knows is inappropriate, and cognitive distortion involves the maintenance of negative emotions by automatically generated erroneous thinking. The fact of having been sexually abused could thus influence sex offenders' beliefs and attitudes towards children and sexuality. This distorted perception may lead them to believe that children are sexual objects and/or that sexual relations with children are not reprehensible. The deviant actions of these sex offenders would therefore be motivated in particular by atypical mental representations and false beliefs, such as the idea that children/adolescents want to have sex, or that someone has the right to have sex when they feel the need.
Childhood sexual abuse could therefore be added as a risk factor for child sex offenders as the trauma of sexual abuse influences the beliefs, mental representations and sexual behaviours of perpetrators, who are more easily persuaded that their actions are justified and/or normal.
Detecting and preventing child sexual abuse
In order to detect and prevent sexual abuse as much as possible, it is important to keep this possibility in mind, however taboo it may be. Thinking about it helps health professionals, in particular, to spot the signs. This possibility should also be considered in cases of other forms of abuse (physical, psychological, neglect) or unexplained symptoms. The Haute Autorité de Santé (French National Authority of Health, HAS) recommends a medical examination if a penetrative assault has occurred within the last 72 hours, to check for recent injuries and severe physical or psychological signs. The doctor may use a psychological (psychotraumatic syndrome, psychological or behavioral disorder) and/or physical examination (adapted to the situation, the child and the doctor's practice and experience). The absence of physical signs does not rule out the possibility of sexual abuse. In the event of strong suspicion of sexual abuse of a child, the first thing to do is to ensure that the child is protected, especially if he or she is in contact with the aggressor, and to alert the appropriate authorities, with or without hospitalization. Anyone who witnesses or suspects child sexual abuse must report it. Being aware of risk factors and trying to limit them is also essential to minimize the occurrence of child sexual abuse. For example, paying attention to alcohol abuse or psychological disorders in the child's environment. Prevention also means offering outside help. The Sexual Abuse Prevention Program in the United States, for example, is a child sexual abuse prevention program designed to help those at risk, and to encourage adults to spot the warning signs. This help takes the form of workshops, webinars, articles and guides providing information on the subject and the best practices to adopt. The program stems from the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974), and the website was launched in 2006. An equivalent program exists in the United Kingdom via the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which also details the particularities of legislation in the country's various constituent nations. These programs also provide information on reporting child sexual abuse.
Studies on the history of adversity in child sex offenders also provide clues to the prevention of child sexual abuse. The researchers recommend investing in integrated intervention protocols (rehabilitation, psychotherapeutic, psychosocial, etc.) — in a penitentiary or surveillance setting — aimed at preventing recidivism, and treatment protocols aimed at healing trauma in sex offenders. They also recommend greater monitoring of sex offenders' progress, both within the prison system and in the case of alternatives to prison. To achieve this, prison staff and operators need to be trained, a non-judgmental approach encouraged, and inter-professional cooperation fostered between operators in the social-health, legal and prison fields. The studies also point out that a history of sexual abuse "would benefit from being conceptualized as a vulnerability factor that increases the risk of reproducing sexual abuse in adulthood".
In the case of sexual abuse, as with any form of maltreatment, it is essential to anticipate the risks and understand the origins of the violence. Research into the profiles and backgrounds of child sex abusers is helping to highlight the vicious circle that abuse can generate, and to suggest new ways to prevent it.
Gauthier Pichevin