Child Sexual Abuse

Thirty-eight children, 0-17 years of age, suspected to have been sexually abused by a relative or an acquaintance were psychiatrically evaluated. The suspicions had developed in various ways: through accounts given by the child, through the child's contacts with a person suspected of having abused another child, through a witness or through conclusions drawn, for instance, from changes in behaviour or play patterns of the child. Genital fondling was the most common sexual act reported. The children usually described repeated abuse. The duration of the abuse situation was more than one year in the majority of the cases.