engleski

Prevalence, incidence and some correlates of sexual abuse of children in Croatia

Sexual abuse of children has been a topic of many international studies, but so far no epidemiological data obtained on a nationally representative sample from Croatia has been published. This study was conducted as a part of the BECAN project and it focused, among other types of violence against children, on lifetime prevalence and one-year incidence of child sexual abuse. The aim of this paper is to examine age and gender differences in prevalence and incidence of child sexual abuse and its correlations with other types of violence in children’s lives, as well as some characteristics of children. A probabilistic stratified cluster sample included 2.62% of children aged 11 (n=1223), 13 (n=1188), and 16 (n=1233) from 40 primary and 29 secondary schools. A modified version of ISPCAN child abuse screening tool-children’s version was used, with five items referring to child sexual abuse. The instrument used also included socio-demographical questions and questionnaire of peer violence. Results showed that 10.8% of children in Croatia have experienced some form of sexual abuse during their lifetime, while 7.7% of them experienced it in the last year. Prevalence and incidence are higher for older than for younger participants (4.8%, 10.7%, and 16.5% prevalence for particular age groups and 3.7%, 8.1%, and 11.1% incidence). Gender differences were obtained only in the older age groups and only when it came to non-contact sexual abuse, with girls experiencing it more than boys. Children who have experienced sexual abuse have a higher prevalence and incidence of abuse in the family. Those children also experience and perpetrate peer violence more often, skip school more often, have lower grades in school, and use internet communication services more often. These data will be discussed in the context of results obtained in previous studies and the effects of multiple victimization.

Child sexual abuse; prevalence; incidence; correlates; BECAN

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