Sexual assaults on children and adolescents do not stop growing to the alarm of experts, who assure that they face “brutal” cases every day. And not only on the street, those committed by strangers or in a ‘pack’, which is what attracts the most attention and what provokes the most fear in parents. On the contrary. In most cases, the aggressor is in the family and in the closest environment. In fact, when it comes to the youngest children (0 to 12 years old), the aggressor lives with him or very close to him, with the victim in many cases being a man (0 to 9 years old).
Who? 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, on many occasions, are not believed by the tsunami that this reality causes. And when they are, they do not even receive psychological care (in 80% of cases). Children attacked by those who must look after them and who, furthermore, must 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 the risk more externally than in their environment, which prevents them from acting and putting a stop to an event that will leave a mark on the minor. Experts point out that they warn (both in attacks committed by family members or strangers) of the severity of the attacks and their frequency. In 26%, the female victims assisted by the Anar Foundation were attacked daily and for a period of 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, extracted from the analysis of the data of the 4,522 cases of children and adolescents who asked for help or made inquiries to the ANAR Help Lines for cases of sexual assault between 2019 and 2023.
In those 5 years, calls regarding sexual assault increased by 55.1%, with the majority of the victim being a girl or adolescent (the femininity index of the victims is 401.5%) and in almost 80% of the Aggressors are people close to the victim.
The study collects countless data that reveal that the majority of sexual assaults are in person (91.5%), although those committed online are clearly increasing. And they are committed throughout the year, although there is a slight increase in the months of May and June.
In 80% of cases the aggressor is an adult and in four out of ten cases, the victims are under 13 years of age. In 21.4% of cases, the aggressors are minors. And 10% of aggressors are repeat offenders.
The majority of sexual assaults are committed in the home (44%), almost 20% in another, and 9.2% in the school environment. The most frequent are touching (51%), penetration (19.4%), kissing (11.2%), masturbation (10%) and in almost 9% they are forced to watch sexual acts.
Regarding group rapes, they will already reach 11% of cases in 2023 (2.1% in 2008). The majority are committed by adults, but those committed by minors are increasing, now reaching 11.2%.
