NewsSexual abuse: fathers often perpetrators, victims often girls

Sexual abuse: fathers often perpetrators, victims often girls

There are harrowing reports from women of their sexual abuse as girls. Everything took place in the family circle. A study evaluated cases from the past few decades.

Berlin – When children are sexually abused in families, the perpetrators are predominantly men and the victims are mostly girls – this is the result of an analysis of reports on acts in past decades.

87 percent of male and 13 percent of female perpetrators were recorded in the investigation by the Independent Commission for Coming up with Child Sexual Abuse, which was presented in Berlin on Tuesday.

According to the reports on crimes from past decades collected in recent years, almost half of the perpetrators (48 percent) were biological fathers, foster fathers and stepfathers. The victims also named grand- and step-uncle, brothers, grandfathers and other relatives. Ten percent of the 1153 reported perpetrators and accomplices were mothers.

Nearly 89 percent of the victims were girls and female adolescents and 10 percent were male. In some cases, gender was not given. The youngest people to approach the Commission were between 16 and 21 years old and the oldest between 76 and 80 years old. Most of the reports were from people between the ages of 40 and 60.

The commission was convened by the federal government in 2016 and evaluated 870 reports for the study on sexual abuse in families. This included 816 cases from those affected, 35 from relatives and 19 from other contemporary witnesses. 680 reports were made orally and 190 in writing. Interim reports on other aspects of the topic were published in 2017 and 2019.

The victims were threatened, beaten or even beaten up by the perpetrators. Other family members, especially mothers, often did not believe or helped them and condoned the abuse. There was also a lack of help from schools or youth welfare offices. dpa

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