Sexual assaults on children and teenagers continue to grow to the alarm of experts, who say that they are faced with increasingly “brutal” cases every day. And not only on the street, those committed by strangers or in groups, which is what attracts the most attention and what causes the most fear in parents. On the contrary In most cases, the aggressor is part of the family and the closest environment. In fact, for the youngest (from 0 to 12 years), around 90% live with him or very close, and the victim in many cases is a child (from 0 to 9 years).
Who is? Well, in half of the cases it is the father or the mother’s partner, but also uncles, brothers or grandparents. And the worst of all is that these children are often not believed because of the tsunami caused by what has happened. And when this happens, they don’t even receive psychological care (in 80% of cases). Children assaulted by the people who should look after them and who, moreover, have to face this situation alone.
The big problem is that this aspect of child sexual assault has been known for years, but families continue to see more of the risk outside than in the environment, which prevents them from acting and slowing down an event that will mark the child . Experts warn about the severity and frequency of assaults, both those committed by family members and strangers. In 26% of the female victims treated by the Anar Foundation, they were assaulted every day and for more than a year.
These are some of the conclusions of the study Sexual aggression in girls and adolescents according to their testimony. Evolution in Spain (2019-2023), from the Anar Foundation, taken from the analysis of the data of the 4,522 cases of children and adolescents who asked for help or consulted the Anar helplines for cases of sexual assault between 2019 and 2023.
During these five years, calls regarding sexual assault increased by 55%, and in most cases the victim was a girl or a teenager (the femininity index of the victims is 401.5%). Almost 80% of the aggressors are people close to the victim (90% among the youngest). In almost 80% of cases the aggressor is an adult, and in four out of ten cases the victims are under 13 years old. The majority of sexual assaults are face-to-face (91.5%), although there is a clear increase in those committed online. 10% of perpetrators are repeat offenders.