Sexual Abuse among Peers

• In Event: New Directions in Research on Sexual Victimization

Abstract

Objective: The meta-analysis addresses risk factors in peer sexual violence and examines factors influencing prevalence rates in international survey studies.
Participants and Setting: The meta-analysis investigated the prevalence rate of sexual violence among peers reported in 38 studies with 211,548 participants, published between 1992 and 2017.
Methods: Searches were conducted in different databases. Inclusion criteria included survey studies with children and adolescents that focused the prevalence rate of sexual violence among peers or the risk and protective factors for sexual violence among peers.
Results: The prevalence rate of victimization was 24.5 % (SD = 22.8). A higher risk of victimization has been identified for girls than for boys (OR = 1.30; 95 % CI = [1.06; 1.60]; p = .01]. Girls have a higher risk of being touched or assaulted in an unwanted sexual manner, of being exposed to sexualized rumors or comments and of being raped. Boys were identified as having a significantly higher risk of being unwillingly shown pornographic images and of being undressed by the suspect.
Conclusion: The results of the meta-analysis shown that sexual abuse among peers is a global problem of considerable extent.

Author

• Barbara Horten, Lehrstuhl für Kriminologie, Strafrecht und Medizinrecht Einschließlich Jugendstraf- und Strafvollzugsrecht, Mainz University