1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men worldwide experience sexual violence in childhood

Nearly one in five women and one in seven men worldwide experienced sexual violence before they turned 18, a new global analysis shows.

Rates of sexual violence during childhood were highest in South Asia for women and in sub-Saharan Africa for men – but no region has been spared from the “pervasive health and human rights issue,” according to the research published on Thursday in The Lancet medical journal.

People who survive sexual violence in their youth are at higher risk of health issues later in life, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and chronic conditions, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The study, which included data from 204 countries, is one of the most comprehensive assessments to date on childhood sexual violen

The researchers defined childhood sexual violence as having ever been physically forced or coerced into unwanted sex or sexual contact – such as fondling or other sexual touching – before the age of 18.

They did not include online abuse or exploitation, or consider the relationship between victim and perpetrator.

Overall, an estimated 18.9 per cent of women and 14.8 per cent of men were subjected to sexual violence before their 18th birthday, the report found

“Sexual violence against children is a widespread human rights and public health issue, and the world is clearly failing to end it,” said Dr Emmanuela Gakidou, a senior author of the study and a professor at the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

In Europe, childhood sexual violence rates for women ranged from 6.9 per cent in Montenegro to 29.7 per cent in the Netherlands.

For men, they ranged from 9.7 per cent in Belgium to 21 per cent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the estimates show.

But researchers said the actual figures could be much higher because child sexual abuse is often under-reported.

Jaya Dantas, a professor of international health at Curtin University in Australia who was not involved with the study, called the findings “alarming” in a statement.

She called for “resources and funding to develop health systems that support surveillance in all countries”.

The study also sheds light on the time period when children may be at higher risk.

For example, among women ages 25 or younger who had experienced sexual violence in childhood, 41.6 per cent were victimised before they turned 16.

Meanwhile, 7.7 were victimised before they turned 12, the study found

“The proportion of survivors facing sexual abuse at such a young age is deeply concerning, and we need urgent action from all countries to improve laws, policies, and the ways experts respond,” Gakidou said.

Notably, the study looked at data from 1990 to 2023 and found relatively little change in sexual violence rates over the decades.

But the variation at the regional and country levels indicates “there are risk and protective factors for sexual violence,” said María Pilar Matud Aznar, a professor at the University of La Laguna in Spain who was not involved with the study.

Understanding those factors, she said in a statement, could help people “implement programs and policies to prevent and eradicate such violence”.