Child sexual abuse

This chapter discusses the global prevalence of child sexual abuse, as well as contentions around the definition of what behaviours constitute the sexual abuse of children in various jurisdictions, types of child sexual abuse, risk factors for victimisation and perpetration, and obstacles to preventing it. As the chapter demonstrates there is no one particular type of victim nor perpetrator, and with the ubiquity of online communications and social media, it is a crime that is changing how it is policed and prevented. The chapter is part of a 20-chapter collection exploring the many different types of rapes and sexual violence, victims/survivors, perpetrators, and what nations and organisations are doing to prevent the harm to individuals around the world. It covers the victimisation of people of all genders and ages, in a variety of situations and locations including in prisons, nursing homes, online, and in wartime.