Facilitators and Barriers to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Disclosures: A Research Update (2000–2016)

Abstract

Identifying and understanding factors that promote or inhibit child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosures has the potential to facilitate earlier disclosures, assist survivors to receive services without delay, and prevent further sexual victimization. Timely access to therapeutic services can mitigate risk to the mental health of survivors of all ages. This review of the research focuses on CSA disclosures with children, youth, and adults across the life course. Using Kiteley and Stogdon's literature review framework, 33 studies since 2000 were identified and analyzed to extrapolate the most convincing findings to be considered for practice and future research. The centering question asked: What is the state of CSA disclosure research and what can be learned to apply to practice and future research? Using Braun and Clarke's guidelines for thematic analysis, five themes emerged: (1) Disclosure is an iterative, interactive process rather than a discrete event best done within a relational context; (2) contemporary disclosure models reflect a social-ecological, person-in-environment orientation for understanding the complex interplay of individual, familial, contextual, and cultural factors involved in CSA disclosure; (3) age and gender significantly influence disclosure; (4) there is a lack of a life-course perspective; and (5) barriers to disclosure continue to outweigh facilitators. Although solid strides have been made in understanding CSA disclosures, the current state of knowledge does not fully capture a cohesive picture of disclosure processes and pathways over the life course. More research is needed on environmental, contextual, and cultural factors. Barriers continue to be identified more frequently than facilitators, although dialogical forums are emerging as important facilitators of CSA disclosure. Implications for practice in facilitating CSA disclosures are discussed with recommendations for future research.

Helping Children to Tell about their Experiences of Sexual Abuse

“…Alaggia et al . () point out that, although recent incidence studies (studies that record new incidents of sexual abuse year‐on‐year) report a decline in the incidence of child sexual abuse, prevalence studies (studies that record the occurrence of sexual abuse over a lifetime), meta‐analyses and reviews continue to record significant prevalence rates of up to 20 per cent for females and up to ten per cent for males. Despite the increased awareness of sexual abuse in our society, studies of both adults and adolescents continue to record significant proportions of respondents who have never told anyone about their experiences prior to the study (McElvaney, ).…”

“…It is important to consider the factors influencing disclosure from a social‐ecological (Alaggia et al, ) or developmental systemic perspective (McElvaney, ). A holistic understanding of intrapersonal, interpersonal, community or environmental, and cultural influences on inhibitors and facilitators of disclosure is needed to appreciate the complex dynamics of disclosure processes.…”

“…According to Alaggia et al . (): Intrapersonal dynamics include age, gender and feeling distressed, ashamed and responsible for the abuse. Interpersonal dynamics include both the anticipated and actual responses to the child's disclosure (believing, supportive, angry, shocked), other family difficulties such as family stress (emotional, economic), conflict within the parents' relationship, alcohol or drug dependency, and parental mental health difficulties. Community or environmental influences include the child's access to a supportive adult outside the family in a school, sports or co‐curricular context, engagement in school‐based child abuse prevention programmes and access to professionals in child protection or therapeutic systems. …”

“…Alaggia et al . () note the role of cultural attitudes to sexuality and patriarchy in silencing children who have been abused, particularly in communities based on racial or ethnic identities. Unwritten and unspoken rules about disclosing wrongdoing to authorities may prevail, thus potentially threatening the cohesion of the cultural group.…”

Challenges to Researching Childhood Sexual Violence in Indonesia

“…In addition, through the systematic review, this study identified several other studies where reported rates of CSV were higher amongst boys than girls, including the Indonesian VACS 2013 (Kurniasari et al, 2014;Bhatla et al, 2015;Center on Child Protection, 2014;Indonesia Ministry of Health et al, 2015), whilst others did not (Diarsvitri et al, 2011;UNDP et al, 2016). As part of a broader comprehensive risk and protective factors study, it would be helpful to undertake qualitative inquiry to understand how gender, language, religiosity, education, and other cultural factors may affect disclosure, building on the findings from global reviews (e.g., Alaggia et al, 2017).…”