Child sexual abuse is a difficult topic that most people prefer to avoid. As a result, much of the information about child sexual abuse learned by the public does not come from research studies, professional journals, or the memoirs of survivors; the majority of information comes from news reports. The reality that everyone from parents to policy makers are gleaning wisdom on the topic from news media may cause the interested observer to ask questions such as, What is the media reporting about child sexual abuse? Do news reports accurately reflect the risks? Are solutions to the problem proposed? What is the focus of the news with respect to child sexual abuse?

Recently a study by the Public Health Institute sought to answer some of those questions. The study examined the content of newspaper articles on child sexual abuse that were published between 2007 and 2009. The final sample consisted of 260 substantive articles from newspapers throughout the United States that addressed child sexual abuse during the two-year period under study. The years 2007 through 2009 were specifically chosen to avoid skewing by the large volume of articles that addressed child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church during the 2002-2006 timeframe.

The Findings

The study found that the most common reason for reporting a story on child sexual abuse was a criminal justice event, such as an arrest, indictment, or verdict in a criminal trial. Stories prompted by criminal justice events constituted 73 percent of the news stories, with an additional seven percent of stories prompted by controversial issues associated with criminal justice events such as disputed court findings.

Not surprisingly, given the reason for the stories, the most common topic of the newspaper stories was the criminal justice system’s response to incidents of child sexual abuse (33 percent) followed by sexual abuse in schools (12 percent). Solutions such as legislative directives to track Internet child pornography users, counseling for sexual abuse victims, or stronger penalties for convicted offenders made up an additional eight percent of the coverage. Stories of incest, sexual abuse in religious organizations, and other famous cases of sexual abuse each constituted an additional seven percent of the topics. The vast majority of stories (91 percent) focused on a specific case of sexual abuse, not on the general area of sexual offending against children 

Only four percent of the news stories described the perpetrator of sexual abuse as a stranger, with 70 percent of the stories describing cases in which the victim knew the perpetrator before abuse occurred. Of these, 29 percent of the stories involved authority figures such as teachers or coaches and 23 percent involved an acquaintance of the child or family. In 18 percent of the stories the perpetrator was a family member. Despite acknowledgement that the child and family often knew the perpetrator, the stories rarely provided insight into the dynamics of the relationship or the closeness often characteristic in situations of child sexual abuse. In 26 percent of the stories, the relationship between the perpetrator and victim was not addressed at all 

The sexual abuse itself was described in a variety of vague, mostly legal terms such as “alleged molestation,” “sexual assault on several occasions,” “lewd and lascivious acts with a child,” and “inappropriate sexual behavior.” Barriers to reporting and misconceptions about sexual abuse were rarely addressed in news articles, and while solutions were sometimes identified, they were rarely focused on the prevention of sexual abuse. Of the articles that mentioned solutions, 82 percent described actions to address abuse incidents that had already happened, with 18 percent addressing primary prevention such as “prevention education” for children and parents. Even these articles, however, presented programs as very small scale and localized initiatives.

Based on these findings, the researchers who studied news stories on child sexual abuse made several suggestions to advocates to help reporters view child sexual abuse beyond the criminal justice perspective, including the following recommendations.

Create news about child sexual abuse. Use media attention relating to a specific case to bring attention to broad-scale prevention efforts in schools, neighborhoods, and churches. Stories must be prepared in advance to take advantage of the opportunities associated with a “breaking story.” News can also be created with press releases about research studies, community events, and awards given to individuals or organizations dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse.

Contribute your opinion. Experts and advocates in the field have opportunities to educate by responding to news stories in the editorial pages and by providing written opinion pieces. The Internet, blog sites, and social media give advocates multiple avenues to enrich public understanding and give direction to others interested in protecting children from abuse and exploitation.

Talk about the context of sexual abuse. When the opportunity to speak with reporters arises, advocates can educate by describing the complex dynamics involved in child sexual abuse, including the relational dimensions, the barriers to reporting and the warning signs that may be present before a child discloses abuse. This task may be furthered by working with adult survivors who are prepared and motivated to articulate some the more difficult dynamics and experiences of abuse.

Clearly, the current news stories on child sexual abuse are dominated by stories that focus on criminal justice perspectives and events. Knowing this, experts and advocates in the field can strive to expand the topics to include articulating the complex dynamics involved, describing broad scale educational initiatives, and identifying the opportunities for prevention.

For more information, see Issue 19. Case by case: News coverage of child sexual abuse (May 2011) by Lori Dorfman, DrPH, Pamela Mejia, MPH, Andrew Cheyne, CPhil, & Priscilla Gonzalez, MPH.