Child sexual abuse and gender differences: attitudes and prevalence

A great deal of attention has been focused on child sexual abuse in recent years. The present study reports attitudes and beliefs of 824 male and female college students concerning sexual abuse, and the participants' own experience with such abuse. Results indicate that women have much stronger pro-social beliefs, attitudes, and emotional reactions to sexual abuse and to abusers and victims than men do. In addition, 6% of men and 13% of women participants reported that they had been sexually abused as children or adolescents, while equal proportions of males and females reported that they were sexually approached by a potential perpetrator. These results are discussed in terms of socialization experiences of males and females in our society, and the literature regarding helping behaviors and compassion for others perceived as helpless and in need of aid. In particular, females may be abused more often than males, even though both sexes are approached in equal frequency, because females have been socialized to be more compliant and responsive to the needs of others, while males are perpetrators more often than females because males have been socialized to be more aggressive, powerful, and dominant.