According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, of the 1.4 million Australian adults who were sexually abused as children, only a small minority were first abused by a stranger.
Almost 85 per cent were abused by someone they knew, most often a close family member or even a parent.
According to Mr O’Connor, past efforts to warn children of the dangers of abuse — such as the Stranger Danger campaign of the 1990’s — have often left children with a false sense of who they should be wary of.
“We know that well over 50 per cent of all child sexual assault, including intrafamilial, the offenders would have backed off if the child would have shown some sort of distaste and dislike, fear, scare, anger.”
This comment can be difficult to hear, but if a child has never been taught they have a right to say no to an adult, no matter who that adult is, maybe they won’t.
Professor Middleton explained that the attachment dynamic — the need we have as children to be nurtured — is so strong that we make accommodation for mistreatment by dissociating it from our daily life.
Source: ‘The last social taboo’: How an unspeakable crime against children remains largely hidden – ABC News
The idea that a child may ‘like’ certain kinds of sexual abuse is abhorrent to most people BUT it is a fact. Sometimes, it is the only time the victim receives any kind of affection or even notice! It is impossible to blame starving children when they steal food? Adults are responsible for children and if under their watch, bad things happen, then it is they who must face the law!