Times Poll in ’85 Found Wide Abuse

A 1985 Los Angeles Times Poll, believed to be the first nationwide study on child sexual abuse, found that childhood sexual abuse is more widespread than had been believed. The poll found that at least 22% of Americans have been victims of child sexual abuse.

Child abuse authorities say The Times poll is still particularly valuable because it gives researchers a look at the vast majority of child molestation victims--those who have not reported the abuse to authorities.

The telephone poll of 2,627 randomly chosen adults showed that only 3% of victims reported the abuse to police or other public agencies.

About one-third of the victims said that before being reached by the poll, they had not disclosed to anyone that they had been molested.

Less than half of those who reported being abused said they told someone such as a parent or friend within a year of the molestation, according to the poll.

Two-thirds of the victims were girls and 93% of abusers were men, the poll found. (The incidence of abuse of boys is probably under-reported, partly because the idea of victimization of males conflicts with “expectations of masculinity,” said David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire’s Family Violence Research Program in his 1986 “Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse.”)

The Times poll found that abusers included friends and acquaintances (42%), strangers (27%) and relatives (23%). About half the abusers could be considered “persons in authority,” including teachers, ministers, therapists and other trusted persons such as youth group leaders and coaches, according to poll director I. A. Lewis.

More than half, or 55%, of the molestations involved sexual intercourse, according to the poll.